Review
Speeding through fourteen tracks in just over forty minutes, Tokyo death metal veterans Defiled show no interest in easing into autopilot on Altered State. Instead of rehashing comfortable nostalgia, the band leans into a restless barrage of progressive rhythms and raw thrash fury, constantly shifting between unexpected tempos and jagged, dissonant grooves.
Critical consensus highlights this sheer thrift and focus, with Decibel praising the record's structure as "fourteen pinpoint brawlers in 43 tightly wound minutes" that "evince zero body fat or DM stasis". Grizzly Butts similarly commends the band’s "commitment to intense containment," noting how they channel an "odd-thrashing, brutal and grinding force". While some critics found the raw, drum-dominant mix "harsh and horrible," the general agreement is that the album achieves a "rare space of authenticity and freshness" by carving its own freakish, off-kilter path through the genre.
