Defeated Sanity - Chapters of Repugnance [2010] (Technical Brutal Death Metal)
Lable : Willowtip Records
I once read an anecdote in the press about someone who had loved a certain piece of Discharge vinyl so much that they glued it to their turntable so they could never listen to anything else. My CD of Chapters of Repugnance is the first piece of musical media in about a decade that has me contemplating a similar adhesive related caper. Let's not beat about the bush, and sod objective break downs (pun unintended) of the attributes of this album, what's going to happen here is I am going to wax lyrical about what I love about this album, that enthusiasm will rub off on you, and will culminate in your purchase of Defeated Sanity's first stone cold Classic. Understood? Good.
I was dubious initially I must admit. Drummer Lille was supremely confident and wasn't shy to infer comparisons with Reign in Blood. The band's new label Willowtip has been throwing around the phrases "instant classic" and "THE. MOST. BRUTAL. RELEASE. OF. 2010." with gay abandon. When is such hyperbole justified? Rarely. Almost never. Sure, the stars seemed to align that night in the mountains of Switzerland when the band performed their first sermon of these Chapters, but would the album prove to be similarly blessed? If Chapters of Repugnance was to live up to such promise, it would have to be monumental.
The most glowing praise I can heap on Chapters is that once it's broken in, starts embedding into your brain it just feels like Classic Death Metal. I get the same feeling listening to this as I do when listening to, say, Effigy of the Forgotten, or The 10 Commandments. It captures that vibe, the vibe you get when losing yourself in a piece of Dan Seagrave artwork. I can't quite put my finger on why this is, but I'd hazard a guess that it's because of the tightness of the song structures combined with a production which is dank, raw, and as warm as fresh kill. To progress beyond Psalms of the Moribund (itself an excellent album) the band have re-purposed their early nineties influences (which were more audible on Prelude to the Tragedy) in a more prominent role. They've taken a step back in order to make a leap forward, utilising their improved song writing nous to mould themselves as an all-encompassing Death Metal act which is setting the standard for all others to follow. By all encompassing I mean that while Chapters does indeed sound and feel classic, it also has all the elements (and more) you'd expect of a Brutal Death Metal act in 2010, it has thrilling speed, drilling gravities, dizzying complexity, and sadistic breakdowns whose foreboding pauses bring a wide eyed anticipation as you foresee your imminent battering.
The improvement in Defeated Sanity's song writing is apparent in that the band are not afraid to line their compositions with hooks, percussive refrains, riffs and passages that are revisited, twisted, and developed, and of course the frequent lithe Fusion asides, which have always been a feature of the band but now seamlessly dovetail with and compliment the surrounding maelstrom. From the Considered Dead riffs of instrumental opener "Introitus", through the barbed riffing of "Engulfed in Excruciation", to the muscled up Effigy outtake of (personal favourite) "Calculated Barbarity", Defeated Sanity provide a master class in Death Metal anno 2010. The only thing the album seems to lack is an emphatic triumphant exclamation mark on which to end ala "Infected Voice" or "Orgiastic Disembowelment", to more ominous effect though closer "Lurid Assimilation" peaks early on and finishes malevolently with a riff that has "to be continued..." written all over it.
For this feels like they're just getting started, it is monumental, the band have truly hit their stride and I can't see them being knocked out of it for some time yet. For all the bands that have edged Death Metal forward over the years there's always been a threat (often fulfilled) of forgetting what it was all about in the first place, of missing the point. How does album X relate to Scream Bloody Gore, or Mental Funeral? The link is tenuous in far too many cases. Chapters of Repugnance is possessed (sic) of the very essence of Death Metal. Of Death Metal past, present, and future. All hyperbole in this case is justified. Get to know!
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