Tokyo’s death metal trailblazer DEFILED will be releasing a brand new album, ‘The Highest Level,’ on April 28, 2023 via Season of Mist! The band is now sharing a the music video for the brand new song, “Red World,” which can be found HERE.
DEFILED comments, “The small, claustrophobic room in this video may remind you of Room 101 in the movie ‘1984.’ If so, you are right. Haven’t you ever felt that since Covid, the world has become more and more surveillance oriented and peer pressure driven? We made this song to capture the update in the world. However, it is not a specific condemnation of any particular country or group. We deliberately try to construct a perspective that is abstract and metaphorical. The themes we deal with are heavy and dark, and they are filled with our own irony. But we hope the world will become a better place. We hope you enjoy the video.”
‘The Highest Level’ can be pre-ordered HERE and pre-saved on streaming services HERE.
Moreover, 2023 marks a seminal year for DEFILED as it celebrates three decades since the release of their first demo and twenty years since the Japanese death dealers formed a union with Season of Mist!
The band will be celebrating this release with a headlining tour of Japan starting from April 28 until it concludes on May 10. Then, then band will join HATE and VADER for three Japanese dates in June. The full itinerary can be found below!
The artwork for ‘The Highest Level’ was created by Wes Benscoter and can be found below along with the tracklist!
Track-list:
1. Off-limits (02:35) [WATCH]
2. Stealth (03:11)
3. The Highest Level (03:17) [WATCH]
4. Entrapped (03:16)
5. The Status Quo (02:32)
6. Warmonger (02:37)
7. Demonization (03:29)
8. Inquisition (03:39)
9. Madness Accelerated (02:11)
10. Delusion (02:54)
11. Only the Strongest Survive (02:54)
12. Red World (04:06) [WATCH]
13. The Last Straw (03:25)
14. Requiem (02:43)
15. The Speech (00:36)
Total (43:17)
DEFILED Live Dates (Japan 2023):
28 Apr 23 Yokohama (JP) El Puente
29 Apr 23 Tokyo (JP) Earthdom
30 Apr 23 Sendai (JP) Solfa
01 May 23 Koriyama (JP) Peak Action
02 May 23 Niigata (JP) Flower Pop
03 May 23 Nagano (JP) The Venue
04 May 23 Nagoya (JP) Daytrive
05 May 23 Kyoto (JP) Trust
06 May 23 Osaka (JP) Hokage
07 May 23 Takamatsu (JP) Toonice
08 May 23 Syunan (JP) Rise
09 May 23 Fukuoka (JP) Reflex
10 May 23 Okayama (JP) Ark
09 Jun 23 Tokyo (JP) WWW (Vader + Hate)
10 Jun 23 Nagoya (JP) Holiday Next (Vader + Hate)
11 Jun 23 Osaka (JP) Zeela (Vader + Hate)
When it comes to straight-forward, bone-crushing death metal, Tokyo’s DEFILED delivers! ‘The Highest Level’ stays true to the traditional death metal formula, while the band’s gritty songwriting approach lends to its authenticity. DEFILED attempts to make no frills with this new full-length, instead speaking directly to the sensibility of old school death metal fanatics who are simply looking for some face-melting violence!
The early 90s was a crucial and formative time for death metal, a genre that started to predominantly emerge in the west with bands like Decide, Cannibal Corpse, Autopsy, Obituary, and Morbid Angel having a stronghold on America while Entombed, Cadaver, Carcass, and many others started to make waves in Europe and the U.K. But across the vast Pacific Ocean, DEFILED was taking a cue from its peers and became one of Asia’s leading purveyors during the genre’s early inception.
Upon releasing a series of demos and EPs during the mid-90s, the Japanese powerhouse finally released its first full-length, ‘Erupted Wrath,’ via Nightfall Records. Upon its release, the band broke out of Asia and started to make its debut in America across the extreme metal fest circuit – performing twice at Milwaukee Metal Fest as well as appearing at November to Dismember in Texas.
The band kept busy during the turn of the century while continuing to build their profile and dominate metal audiences around the globe and by 2003, they formed a union with Season of Mist, where the band has become one of the label’s most consistent death metal mainstays. Since then, the band has released six full-length albums, the majority of which are under the Season of Mist banner.
As the band celebrates thirty years since its legacy was formed, they are ready to unleash another pummelling offering onto the masses. ‘The Highest Level’ still carries the same time-tested formula that Defiled established three decades ago, remaining true to their identity, and still carrying the torch as one of the genre’s founding fathers.
Style: Old School Death Metal
Links:
https://www.facebook.com/defiled
https://www.instagram.com/defiledjapan
https://defiledjapan.bandcamp.com
https://soundcloud.com/defiled
https://www.defiled.info
Line-up
Shinichiro Hamada: vocals, guitar
Yusuke Sumita: guitar
Takachika Nakajima: bass
Keisuke Hamada: drums
Recording studio: Blackroom Studio Naha, Okinawa (JP)
Mixing & Master: Studio Nest @ China, Japan / Kenji Kikuchi
Cover art: Wes Benscoter
Pre-order: https://redirect.season-of-mist.com/Defiled_THL
Pre-save:https://orcd.co/defiled-thl
Available formats:
Digital
CD Digipak
LP Vinyl in various colours
