Defiled Japan

"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.

(review originally posted on metalmusicarchives.com)"