Prelude to the Tragedy

Defeated Sanity is a very iconic band in death metal. Their style of barbaric yet technical/jazzy style of brutal death metal has gained them a lot of popularity. This band over the years has managed to release 7 studio full-lengths. With the band growing more tight and progressive as time goes on. And with this debut “Prelude to the Tragedy”, this is the band at their most straightforward as a tech death band. A much more aggressive style in the form of Disgorge and Suffocation.

This album is very blunt and to the point. The moment you hit play you're bashed repeatedly with obnoxious vocals and slams. You can tell right away how talented everyone is. The music is tight, precise, yet brutal as fuck. This isn’t one of those bland tech death bands that think constantly technicality makes their songs great. These songs are groovy, heavy, and technical yet very well-executed as well as written. This is probably the most straightforward and underrated album in the band's catalog.

Production wise it reminds me a lot of old-school death metal/tech death. The drums have a nice punch to them and work with a thinner tone. The vocals sound great and aren’t too upfront or too low. The bass is fantastic and has a transparent yet heavy tone. And the guitar tone has a very nasty crunch to them. Everything is powerful and sounds fantastic. The production kinda reminds me of early Suffocation and Disgorge.

The same can be said for the brutal guitar work. There are tons of fast and frantic riffs. Kinda in the vein of Disgorge, especially the way the riffs tend to crawl in a twisted manner. Slams are used cleverly and make things hella groovy. And of course, this album has those nasty slow-palm muted chuggy breakdowns. Which screams Suffocation. Some of this technical riffing even reminds me of Disincarnate at points almost. It’s got a great balance of brutality and technical ability. The rhythms are intricate and solos are used cleverly. Showcasing that this band can write hella tight and catchy songs.

The vocals on this album are very different when you look at newer albums by Defeated Sanity. The vocals aren’t as deep and as guttural as they were going to become. Markus Keller does a very Frank Mullen-like mid-ranged growl for the majority of this record. You get some raspier and more deeper gutturals here and there. But for the most part, he sticks in that mid-range register. And it sounds gnarly as hell. The vocals are more aligned with old-school death metal than brutal death. But that doesn’t make it bad by any means.

The drumming much like the riff work is very technical and brutal. Lille Gruber attacks those drums with precision and ruthlessness. His blast beats are fast and barbaric. The drums are written extremely well and have tons of great drum grooves Lille also pulls off some very tasty cymbal work and double bass brutality. So it isn’t just mindless blast beats. He knows how to work around the kit with great fills and turnovers.

This album is extremely underrated within Defeated Sanity’s catalog. It’s tons of great osdm riffs and flares, while also staying true to old-school brutal death metal. It’s got tight technical details and tons of interesting yet hooky riffs. You could tell this band was on the way to becoming one of the best bands in extreme metal. It’s not as complex as something like “Passages Into Deformity”. But it has its tight and complex moments. This album also gets thrashy at times.

Overall this is a great debut album. This band would only get better from here on out. And with this band's new single releasing tonight (or tomorrow depending on when this review gets posted). I decided to finally review some of this band's work. If you want old-school brutal death metal that’s extremely technical and progressive. Give this band a jam immediately.

FFO: Disgorge, Suffocation, Gorgasm, Disincarnate, Malignancy, Devourment, Severed Savior