Defiled share new single ‘Obsession’

Defiled, the Tokyo-based death metal band active since 1992, have released a music video for “Obsession”, the second single from their forthcoming ninth album Altered State, out June 12, 2026, on Season of Mist.

“‘Obsession’ locks into a nasty groove before Sumita and Shinichiro Hamada cut through a labyrinth of technically demanding riffs. The track is built around the story of Jack Parsons—rocket fuel pioneer and devotee of Aleister Crowley’s Thelema—and closes with the band descending into psychological disintegration. “Obsession” follows lead single “Portal”, which opened the campaign earlier this year.

Altered State is a 14-track record produced by Yusuke Sumita. Both musically and lyrically, it extends the trajectory of The Highest Level (2023) and Horror Beyond Horror (2024), expanding on their combination of old-school death metal, technical thrash riffing, and progressive rock compositional logic. Lyrically, the album draws on George Orwell’s 1984 as a framework for addressing surveillance, mass manipulation, and contemporary political dysfunction.

“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.”

Defiled formed in Tokyo in 1992, during death metal’s early golden era. Their first three full-lengths—Erupted Wrath (1999), Ugliness Revealed (2001), and Divination (2003)—were all mixed by Jim Morris at Morrisound Studios in Tampa, Florida. Since signing with Season of Mist in 2003, the band have performed at Milwaukee Metal Festival alongside Morbid Angel, Mayhem, Cannibal Corpse, and Incantation. Their current lineup: Sumita, vocalist and guitarist Shinichiro Hamada, drummer Keisuke Hamada, and bassist Takachika Nakajima, has been together since Infinite Regress (2020), a run that now extends to four albums in six years.

Altered State was produced by Yusuke Sumita and recorded at Studio Zot in Tokyo, with sound engineering by Shinichiro Hamada and Keisuke Hamada. Mixing and mastering were handled by Kenji Kikuchi at Studio Nest in Chiba, Japan. Artwork is by Wes Benscoter. Photography by Fukcrec Hbk. The music video for “Obsession” was directed by Seaside99works.

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.

Line-up:
Shinichiro Hamada — Vocals, Guitar
Yusuke Sumita — Guitar
Takachika Nakajima — Bass
Keisuke Hamada — Drums