Death Metal - Japan
Defiled truly are their own island. While active since 1992, during death metal’s golden era, the Tokyo legends are neither relics nor custodians for the old-school. They do not follow Western traditions. They cannot be reduced to tokens like kimonos or samurai. Like the Japanese salamander, they continue to evolve in isolation, free from passing trends. Founding member and guitarist Yusuke Sumita and his band of warriors remain masters of the form, but their upcoming ninth album bears only a passing resemblance to the genre’s past or present. On Altered State, Defiled unleash a dizzying blast of death metal straight from the future.
“Like many other bands, our musical roots are heavily influenced by early ‘90s death metal and ‘80s thrash and hardcore, however, our interpretation is different and has branched off from the current scene”, Sumita says. “On Altered State, there are many catchy hooks, but tricky progressive rhythms and song structures can be found as well. The album may not be understandable after a few listens, but it taps into a blind spot that many bands have missed”.
Though they’re indifferent to scenes within the larger world of metal, Defiled’s presence has spread far and wide for more than three decades. The band’s 1994 debut EP, Defeat of Sanity, quickly proved prescient after inspiring the name of their future Season of Mist labelmates Defeated Sanity. Their first three full-lengths – Erupted Wrath (1999), Ugliness Revealed (2001) and Divination (2003) – were all mixed by none other than the legend himself, Jim Morris, at Morrisound Studios in Tampa, Florida. Early success set them upon a war path through the Japanese underground and onto the international stage. Defiled ransacked Milwaukee Metal Festival and banged heads with Morbid Angel, Mayhem, Cannibal Corpse and Incantation.
Since signing with Season of Mist in 2003, Defiled have shown no sign of slowing down. Despite enduring some changes between 2011’s In Crisis and 2016’s Towards Inevitable Ruin, the personnel around Sumita is now locked in with Keisuke Hamada pounding on drums, Takachika Nakajima nailing down bass and Shinichiro Hamada handling both guitars and vocals. Starting with Infinite Regress in 2020, this lineup is currently riding a seemingly endless hot streak. After reaching The Highest Level in 2023, they topped themselves once more with 2024’s Horror Beyond Horror.
“Horror Beyond Horror again finds Defiled stuck on the upswing”, Decibel wrote in an 8/10 review. “With their eighth studio album since 1992, the Tokyo death metal longhairs’ third pandemic-era disc completes a four-year hothouse of peak ability, creativity and volatility”.
Metalheads can be forgiven for assuming Defiled had already reached peak shredding, that there were no horrors left for them to reveal. But Altered State quickly quiets any leftover suspicions. Lead single “Portal” opens with a reminder that this band can sharpen even traditional riffs before breaking into a series of tempo shifts that unlock another plane of existence. Though still influenced by sounds that came from the underground, the album delves even deeper into their psychic perception of our warped reality with a twist of inspiration from Stravinsky. Occultists gather around the shapeshifting groove that seizes hold over “Obsession”.
“Both musically and lyrically, Altered State is an expansion of The Highest Level and Horror Beyond Horror”, Sumita says. “The music is a combination of old-school death metal, technical-thrash riffs and the rhythmic changes of progressive rock. The lyrics are based on the dystopian world presented in George Orwell’s science-fiction masterpiece 1984. They express the madness that everyone living in the present currently feels”.
Altered State isn’t afraid to wind through the darkest and most mysterious corners of our collective consciousness. But listen closely to Defiled and all secrets will be revealed. “Receive the power”, the band command on the album’s title track with a chaos that only they can control.
| Date | Venue | City | Country | Info | Ticket |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| April 8th, 2026 | Big Cat | Osaka | Japan | with Mayhem | |
| April 26th, 2026 | Classix | Tokyo | Japan | ||
| June 9th, 2026 | Holiday | Tokyo | Japan | with Incantation | |
| June 10th, 2026 | El Puente | Tokyo | Japan | ||
| June 11th, 2026 | Chicken Shack | Tokyo | Japan | ||
| June 12th, 2026 | Earthdom | Tokyo | Japan | ||
| June 13th, 2026 | Sora | Tokyo | Japan | ||
| June 13th, 2026 | Solfa | Tokyo | Japan | ||
| June 14th, 2026 | Karando | Tokyo | Japan | ||
| June 14th, 2026 | Rocka | Tokyo | Japan | ||
| June 15th, 2026 | Rosebery Cafe | Tokyo | Japan | ||
| June 16th, 2026 | Bodega | Tokyo | Japan | ||
| June 17th, 2026 | Space Tama | Tokyo | Japan | ||
| June 18th, 2026 | Studio 246 | Tokyo | Japan | ||
| June 19th, 2026 | Hokage | Tokyo | Japan | ||
| June 20th, 2026 | Dogvult | Tokyo | Japan | ||
| June 20th, 2026 | Agit | Tokyo | Japan | ||
| June 21st, 2026 | Distortion | Tokyo | Japan | ||
| June 21st, 2026 | Reflex | Tokyo | Japan | ||
| June 22nd, 2026 | Branch | Tokyo | Japan |
Having been active practitioners since 1992, Defiled are masters of the vile art known as death metal. The Tokyo legends have shared the stage with Morbid Angel, Mayhem, Cannibal Corpse and Incantation. However, these grizzled veterans are neither relics nor custodians for the old-school. Their upcoming new album, Altered State, unleashes a dizzying blast of death metal straight from the future.
This December, death metal juggernauts CRYPTOPSY return to Japan—and they’re not coming alone. Joining them for two exclusive Tokyo dates is the country’s own DEFILED, bringing their chaotic and cerebral brand of old-school death metal to the stage at Shibuya WWW X, Tokyo.
Tokyo’s death metal stalwarts, DEFILED, are set to embark on their “Smoke and Mirrors” Tour 2025 this May, delivering their signature blend of old-school brutality and technical prowess to fans across South Korea and Japan. This tour supports their latest album, Horror Beyond Horror, released through Season of Mist.
After carving out three albums in almost as many years, even the band’s most disciplined disciples can be forgiven for believing that Defiled had reached the highest level of old school death metal. But on their new album, the Japanese samurai wield deadly lessons that only a true legend can master.
For the past three decades, Defiled have kept their blade sharp. Ever since Tokyo’s underground lost their minds over the band’s grotesque arsenal of finishing moves, Yusuke Sumita and his death metal samurai set off on a war path that’s left nothing but inevitable ruin in their raw wake. They’ve ransacked Milwaukee Metal Festival and joined forces with their fellow legends in Mayhem, Incantation, Morbid Angel and Cannibal Corpse.
