Defiled reveal raw truth on new single ‘Smoke and Mirrors’

Though they’ve more than earned their distinguished title as the samurai of death metal, Defiled have never had the patience to suffer any fools. For the past 30 years, Yusuke Sumita and his lethal band of warriors have been on a war path, leaving nothing but inevitable ruin in their grimy wake. They’ve conquered crowds from across their native Tokyo all the way to Milwaukee Metal Festival while touring with their fellow legends in Mayhem, Incantation, Morbid Angel and Cannibal Corpse.

Now, just two years removed from reaching the highest level of straight-forward, bone-crushing death metal, Defiled have topped themselves once again on their upcoming eighth album. Horror Beyond Horror is the kind of good ol’ fashioned ass-kicking that only a true master can deliver. It slices and dices from all directions, but their new single cuts straight to the bloody truth.

Horror Beyond Horror comes out September 20 on Season of Mist. Pre-order & Stream: https://orcd.co/defiledhorrorbeyondhorror

Ever since they clawed out of Tokyo’s underground back in 1992, Defiled have carved out a reputation as one of the world’s finest practitioners of relentlessly raw death metal. “Those who prefer the schools of olde should be right at home”, Lambgoat wrote in praise of their last barbaric offering.

But Horror Beyond Horror proves that Defiled can still inflict maximum punishment in ways that are strangely satisfying. Like a poisonous dart, the band come shooting out of the shadows on “Smoke and Mirrors”. Blast beats pummel at unforeseen angles, only to shift around every corner into a dizzying flurry of drum fills.  

“Smoke and Mirrors” will toy with even the most decorated of battle vests, but Defiled know when it’s time to vanquish foes with a brutal finishing move. “Every lie has been revealed”, fearless frontman Shinichiro Hamada shouts, taking aim at perpetual frauds and tyrannical technocrats. Upon getting the signal from Hamada‘s screaming whammy bar, the band charge straight into the pit of battle with a grisly, grease-slicked groove that will snap plenty of necks on their upcoming Japanese tour.       

“We are very excited to kick off our tour in support of our new album in our home country”, says guitarist Yusuke Sumita. “If you’re in the area, be sure to join us. See you on the road”.

The video for “Smoke and Mirrors” was filmed at Katakai Pier in Kujukuri, Chiba, Japan in May 2024. It was directed and edited by Seaside 99 Works. Special thanks to Kujukuri Gyogyou Kumiai.

In customary fashion, this fall, Defiled are welcoming Horror Beyond Horror with a tour of Japan. Don’t miss the chance to watch these legends shred through “Smoke and Mirrors”, “To See Beyond the Wall” and other nasty rippers off their new album for the very first time.

From the depths of Tokyo’s darkest alleys, Defiled have emerged once again, claws sharpened, eyes bloodshot, ready to unleash a fresh dose of unadulterated savagery with their latest full-length studio album, Horror Beyond Horror. Marrying the grotesque with technical prowess, these samurais of sickness are poised to carve another notch into the archives of death metal’s sordid history.

Since crawling from the primordial soup of the underground scene in the early ’90s, Defiled have forged a path littered with broken souls. Their journey of destruction first sank its teeth into the international jugular with Erupted Wrath, mixed by the masterful Jim Morris in Tampa, Florida. This brutal assault opened gates to a global bloodletting, from leveling stages in South Korea to crushing skulls at the Milwaukee Metalfest, and not even the November to Dismember fest could foresee the carnage they’d bring.

Commandeering the technical tightrope between anarchy and precision, Defiled evolved, much like an aberrant spawn isolated on the Galapagos, grotesque yet ultimately superior. Their subsequent onslaughts — Ugliness Revealed, Divination, and the sheer violence of In Crisis — built a monument to atrocity that ascends to new heights with Horror Beyond Horror.

Taking no prisoners in their three-decades-long campaign of terror, Defiled have become the indestructible behemoth of Asia’s death metal scene, powered by the relentless engine of their old school roots and the twisted wreckage of technical thrash and progressive rock innovation.

But enough with the history lesson, you came here for the carnage, didn’t you? Horror Beyond Horror is a 14-track massacre, riddled with riffs sharp enough to slit your throat and a rhythmic onslaught that’ll pulverize your pathetic bones. Each track, from the visceral “Smoke and Mirrors” to the haunting “To See Behind the Wall”, is a calculated strike, precision-engineered to leave no survivors. Let’s not forget the eponymous “Horror Beyond Horror”, a track that cements Defiled‘s legacy as harbingers of the apocalypse.

With a sound as raw as exposed nerve endings and as unrefined as a mass grave, Defiled stands defiantly apart from the polished poseurs and shameless sellouts. They don’t peddle in cheap gimmickry or nostalgia; they deal in the currency of pure, unfiltered destruction. As they look out upon the charred landscape of the genre they’ve helped to define, Defiled is not content to rest on their laurels. Horror Beyond Horror sees them, once again, ascending to the blood-soaked throne of death metal sovereignty.

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