Review by Jeger on November 3, 2024.

I’m an old-school death metal guy, so I do not find much integrity in tech death unless we’re talking Death. Chuck just did it with a level of class that, in my opinion, has yet to be paralleled. There are bands such as Psycroptic and Revocation who are obvious exceptions, but Archspire? You can have it… It’s difficult for me to go into these records unbiasedly because I genuinely feel like most of what constitutes tech-death is just a bunch of “look mom, no hands!” bullshit created with the idea of impressing other musicians in mind, as opposed to the genuineness of what I consider to be true death metal: “Scream Bloody Gore” and “Leprosy” era Death, “Necroticism” era Carcass and all eras of Massacre.

A “unique, boundary-pushing and crucial” brutal/technical death metal band is how Germany / USA’s Defeated Sanity have been described. Having formed in 1993 and considering their long-running career (no hiatuses), they’ve certainly proven to be an integral asset to the sub-genre. What I enjoy most about DS are their influences and how they incorporate elements of the above-mentioned band’s styles, all the while as they do what tech bands do, which is the slathering on of complex time-changes, impossible scales, and uber-complicated rhythms. Labyrinthine passages ripe for enthusiastic discovery, but steeped in the brutal ways of the old school. On November 22, 2024, Defeated Sanity will release their seventh full-length studio LP, Chronicles Of Lunacy, via Season Of Mist. 

Brutal like Suffocation and Dying Fetus yet as intricate and as air-tight as Monstrosity and the above-mentioned Revocation are Defeated Sanity throughout some of this record. I expected what is typical for tech, and that is a polished product, but instead, what we have here is something a little more stripped-down with brutality at the fore: grimy distortion, filthy gutturals, and backed by some hard-hitting bass lines. That snare though… Yikes… Obnoxious to say the least; unfitting and like ear poison as it cuts through the mix seemingly without permission - crashing the party and basically castrating a somewhat well-put-together death metal album. Lyrically, expect a crash course in delusional thinking and its manifestation into human motion; an appalling realization of sickly desires and wretched intentions - the very worst facets of the human condition in action, dismal connotations forbearing a grimmest musical backdrop during the opening track, 'Amputationsdrang' - first blood drawn to the cadence of rapid-fire blasts and bone-fissuring grinds - caveman-level savage guitar parts and equally as primitive vocalizations that lurk just beneath the surface insidiously. And it wouldn’t be tech without a bunch of bewildering riffing patterns and cranium-scrambling beats, but goddamn it, that fucking snare! Like a midget with a toy among brutes with shotguns… 

There’s very little rhyme or reason here; not much in the way of music you’d really care to even try and wrap your head around or even attempt to piece together. Unpredictable and rather annoying aside from the album’s heaviest parts. Like if Cannibal Corpse had a really nerve-wracking percussionist and an even more irking guitarist. There are brief cinematic parts - murderous little soliloquies like the one at the tail end of 'Accelerating The Rot' that are meant to intensify what was envisioned to be a nightmarish experience, but shallow is their impact: too many cartoonish, almost video game-type doodles and squeals. This thing is just all over the place like a brutal/technical death metal tossed salad… Chronicles Of Lunacy is devoid of synergy, instead what we have is this dreadful inertia-inducing alternation between brutality and tech. It’s like whoever composed it doesn’t have enough conglomerate vision or enough creativity to meld the two styles together seamlessly. 

Yep, records like Chronicles Of Lunacy just make me glad that I have a taste for real, pure death metal. It makes me glad that I was born when I was and that I was fortunate enough to actually experience the glory days of the genre. Call me a curmudgeon! Couldn’t care less. With COL, Defeated Sanity display some impressive talent in all phases, but as far as songwriting is concerned, maybe lay off the meth and focus your attention on a melded, less bolted-together sound that doesn’t make me feel as if I’m listening to two completely different bands attempt to play each track together. And did I mention that snare?… 

Rating: 6 out of 10