Death metal crushers Defiled are now announcing the release of their new full length “The Highest Level”! The album will drop worldwide on the 28th of April, 2023 via Season of Mist. The band proudly share the cover artwork, title track and track list down below.

In celebration of this news, Defiled is treating us with the release of their track ‘Off-Limits’, together with a fitting music video, which can be viewed at https://www.youtube.com/live/UwHk4pJz1Dc

The band comments: “Hello everyone, what’s up! This is Yusuke from Defiled. We’re very happy to unveil an announcement of our upcoming album “The Highest Level”. First of all, please take a look at our PV “”Off-Limits”” It’s the first track of the album and it’s a very straightforward tune for headbanging. If you like it, stay tuned for our new album. We think it won’t disappoint you. Thank you very much.”

Track-list: 1. Off-limits (02:35) 2. Stealth (03:11) 3. The Highest Level (03:17) 4. Entrapped (03:16) 5. The Status Quo (02:32) 6. Warmonger (02:37) 7. Demonization (03:29) 8. Inquisition (03:39) 9. Madness Accelerated (02:11) 10. Delusion (02:54) 11. Only the Strongest Survive (02:54) 12. Red World (04:06) 13. The Last Straw (03:25) 14. Requiem (02:43) 15. The Speech (00:36) // Total (43:17)

When it comes to straight-forward, bone-crushing death metal, Tokyo’s Defiled delivers! ‘The Highest Level’ stays true to the traditional death metal formula, while the band’s gritty songwriting approach lends to its authenticity. Defiled attempts to make no frills with this new full-length, instead speaking directly to the sensibility of old school death metal fanatics who are simply looking for some face-melting violence!

The early 90s was a crucial and formative time for death metal, a genre that started to predominantly emerge in the west with bands like Decide, Cannibal Corpse, Autopsy, Obituary, and Morbid Angel having a stronghold on America while Entombed, Cadaver, Carcass, and many others started to make waves in Europe and the U.K. But across the vast Pacific Ocean, Defiled was taking a cue from its peers and became one of Asia’s leading purveyors during the genre’s early inception.

Upon releasing a series of demos and EPs during the mid-90s, the Japanese powerhouse finally released its first full-length, ‘Erupted Wrath,’ via Nightfall Records. Upon its release, the band broke out of Asia and started to make its debut in America across the extreme metal fest circuit – performing twice at Milwaukee Metal Fest as well as appearing at November to Dismember in Texas.

The band kept busy during the turn of the century while continuing to build their profile and dominate metal audiences around the globe and by 2003, they formed a union with Season of Mist, where the band has become one of the label’s most consistent death metal mainstays. Since then, the band has released six full-length albums, the majority of which are under the Season of Mist banner.

As the band celebrates thirty years since its legacy was formed, they are ready to unleash another pummelling offering onto the masses. ‘The Highest Level’ still carries the same time-tested formula that Defiled established three decades ago, remaining true to their identity, and still carrying the torch as one of the genre’s founding fathers.

Defiled line-up: Shinichiro Hamada: vocals, guitar / Yusuke Sumita: guitar / Takachika Nakajima: bass / Keisuke Hamada: drums

Recording studio: Blackroom Studio Naha, Okinawa (JP) / Mixing & Master: Studio Nest @ China, Japan – Kenji Kikuchi / Cover art: Wes Benscoter

Pre-order: https://redirect.season-of-mist.com/Defiled_THL Pre-save: https://orcd.co/defiled-thl

Available formats: -Digital / -CD Digipak / -LP Vinyl in various colours