Metal Dan Vs. ‘Passages into deformity’ by Defeated Sanity.

There are very few bands within the Brutal Death Metal scene that are able to be extremely brutal but dynamic at the same time. Defeated sanity is one of the few bands who has managed to pull it off with such finesse since Suffocation birthed this subgenre in the early 90’s.

Defeated sanity has been around for a while now as a performing band, but took quite a while to start recording full length albums and has as a result released a comparatively small amount of material considering they were formed all the way back in 1994. But they sure have been making up for lost time with their full lengths thus far, and their latest gives no indication that they are starting to slip in the slightest. This disc is pure pummelling death metal with the low guttural vocals, crushing drumming, and raw grinding buzz-saw guitars that any fan of the genre comes to expect from a solid death metal release.

There are plenty of technical death metal bands out there that easily cave into cheap flashy guitar tricks that lack any sort of solid song writing prowess, but Defeated sanity tastefully combine elements of technical death metal without coming off as being too mastabatory. At first listen this album might seem like any other in the genre, but when listened to closely there is a great deal of layering going on and beneath the brutal haze of buzz saw guitars you can hear the added layers of depth. Even if they are only the typical tremolo picked single note lines or subtle scrapes and harmonics, they blend in very well with the overall sound here. The production isn’t too clean, the drums don’t sound too clicky, and the guitars sound sufficiently thick and not too thin. However, everything here fits well in the mix, so that individual instruments are still easy to distinguish.

The songs themselves tend to vary the most within each other rather than from song to song. A song might start off with a slamming palm muted chug, then rush off into a thrashy 16th note section, and then have a bass noodling interlude around the middle that once again gives a nod towards the Tech Death style. But, none of this ever manages to outstay its welcome.

Defeated sanity’s full length catalogue so far has been a gradual portfolio of ever improving content, and ‘Passages into deformity’ is their best yet.