UMUR "In Crisis" is the 4th full-length studio album by Japanese death metal act Defiled. "In Crisis" was released in January 2011 by Season of Mist.

The recording break between "Divination (2003)" and "In Crisis" has been rather lengthy and it´s always interesting to hear if an act has gained momentum or gotten rusty in such a long the time between releases. Let´s just say Defiled sounds as fresh and brutal as always. This is definitely not an act that´s gotten rusty, but rather an act that has spend those 8 years writing powerful and crushingly brutal tracks.

Defiled have a pretty original take on the brutal death metal form. The unique nature of their music is in large part due to the bass playing by Haruhisa Takahata. Picture Suffocation-like technical brutality and then add the crazy bass playing of early Atheist played with a bit more aggression. After listening to the 12 track, 44:39 minutes long album, it´s safe to say that the album isn´t too varied and it´s definitely a slight issue. But what Defiled loses on the variation barometer they win on their fiercely energetic playing and one of the most filthy distorted sound productions I´ve heard in a while. The latter is bound to pose a problem for some, but I greatly enjoy the messy distorted production which provides badass attitude and authenticity to the music.

The music is very technical but Defiled succeed in incorporating multible tempo- and time signature changes without sacrificing power and that´s quite the achivement in my book. The vocals are brutal deep growls. Completely indecipherable and personally I could have wished for a bit more variation, but fans of really brutal death metal shouldn´t have a problem with the vocal style.

All an all "In Crisis" is a very impressive album albeit with a few flaws. It´s the kind of album where my jaw drops to the floor several times during the playing time because of the technical details, but it´s also the kind of album that makes me wanna bang my head like a madman and mosh like a lunatic. This is how I like my technical death metal and a 4 star rating is deserved. "In Crisis" is a prime example that technical playing don´t have to ruin flow, power or brutality.

Time Signature Revelation of death...

Genre: death metal

J-Man gave Defiled's forthcoming album two stars in a review posted recently on this site. While I think that his review is, as usual, a well-written quality review, I'm going to double up on his rating and give Defiled's 2011 album "In Crisis" no less that four stars, because I think it's an absolutely awesome punch in the face with a fistful of death metal.

Musically, "In Crisis" offers old school technical death metal in the vein of American acts like Suffocation - that is death metal which is aggressive and brutal but yet technical, complex, slightly progressive and full of interesting finesses and details. And in this day and age of deathcore and what not, Defiled's retrospective approach to death metal is actually very refreshing. Every song on this album contains numerous changes, twists and turns, and the combination of brutality and technicality, I think, is one that is characterized by both equilibrium and unpredictability.

Just the way I like my death metal.

The two major strenghts of the album are the riffs and the basslines.Defiled have a knack for writing classic (as in classic death metal) powerful guitar riffs that have such a punch to them they they'd knock out Mike Tyson within the first two seconds of round one. Secondly, the basslines are absolutely brilliant. Haruhisa Takahata is a very skilled bass player who belongs up there with the likes of Roger Patterson and Tony Choy. The basslines are comples, and he makes use of interesting things like slapping bass, chords, and jazzy figures - and just general wickedness.

The vocals strike me as perhaps being a bit weak, but at least they are not monotonous. The production takes some getting used to. It is very raw and unpolished, but I kind of like that after a couple of spins, because it suits the music very well. I also like how the bass is very audible and almost central in the mix.

"In Crisis" is a raw, reotrspective affair which offers old school technical brutal death metal, and I think that, if you can live with the production, it will appeal to fans of good ole death metal.

J-Man Paradoxical Chaos

Japan isn't exactly a country that's overflowing with death metal acts, but Tokyo's Defiled has been staying true to the old school variant of the genre since 1992 and, for the most part, gone unnoticed amongst death metal fans. I had never heard of the band prior to In Crisis - their first release in almost eight years. While I can't say that I've enjoyed In Crisis nearly as much as I hoped I would, old school death metal fans might get a kick out of this. For me, the muddy production, unpolished musicianship, and lack of memorable songwriting simply diminish most of my enjoyment here. There's definitely quality to be found on Defiled's fourth studio album, but I'm not sure if it's enough to warrant a purchase in the oversaturated death metal scene. If you're a die-hard old school death metal fan, a follower of Defiled, or curious how Japanese death metal will sound, you might want to check out In Crisis. As far as my money goes, there's definitely some better old school death metal on the scene to invest in before this.

The music here is brutal old school death metal played in an American style. I'm often reminded of Cannibal Corpse, Deicide, or a less polished Morbid Angel. There's also a slight technical/progressive edge, mainly due to the dissonant chord structures and complex basslines. In that respect, there's a hint of early Atheist and maybe even Gorguts. The concept behind Defiled's sound is great, but the music simply doesn't hold up. Even right after a focused listening session, it's hard to recall more than a couple riffs and chord progressions. I enjoy listening to In Crisis while it's on, but when it's over there's not much to remember it by. Picking out any single track from the album is difficult since, aside from the brief into and outro, all of the songs sound almost identical. Again, for some people this may be a good thing; just not for me. The musicianship is generally good, though it is very raw and unpolished. Some people may enjoy this raw playing style, but I definitely think more work should've been done in the delivery aspect of In Crisis. The most notable aspect in Defiled's music is the bass playing from Haruhisa Takahata, which is pretty impressive. Bass playing usually takes a backseat in old school death metal, but Haruhisa delivers plenty of technically outstanding basslines that should impress fans of Roger Patterson and the like.

The production is almost unlistenable, in my opinion. If the production were better, I could definitely see myself enjoying In Crisis much more. This just sounds muddy and unfocused - people who like the production of early death metal demos should be right at home with this, but I think Defiled deserves a better production than what they've gotten here.

Conclusion:

In Crisis is a decent album by Defiled with a few flaws that bring it down to below-average. My rating will be 2 (almost 2.5) stars here. There's definitely an audience of death metal fans who may want to check this out, but I hesitate in calling it an essential or even recommended purchase, especially considering the truckloads of other great recent death metal releases. If the production were better and the compositions a bit more memorable, In Crisis would've been a much more recommended acquisition. As it stands, this is really only an item for collectors and die-hard death metal fans.