Struck down by their own thoughts and heaving against the pressure of dread-borne ail avant-garde death/post-black metal quartet DEFACEMENT access both chaos and catharses in expressing a wracked psyche in the midst of bargaining against its own collapse per this fourth full-length album. Still exercising their experimental node but streamlining the inherent combination of forms available ‘Doomed‘ expresses both nihil and lament via variously excitable and introspective pieces which arrive irregularly shaped and howling in their midst. There is no relief in the end, no neatly sewn-up closure of the wound carved here so much as the gutting of the self is worn openly as the artist(s) process despair through erratic, heavily layered post-death metal confrontation and black-gazing escape ’til the thought runs its course.

Defacement formed as a trio circa 2019 between folks from Libya and Italy as they’d centered their original idea around dissonant and highly atmospheric black/death metal sounds. Their debut LP (‘Deviant‘, 2019) kinda struck outta nowhere to quick notice and their momentum has been steady since then as they’ve expanded to a live-capable quartet. I’ve covered a lot of the details, two member’s previous band, and provided extensive thoughts on their last two full-lengths over the years so I won’t repeat the bio/preamble here. What I will say is that I fully understood ‘Duality‘ (2024) in concept and execution though the juxtaposition of harshly chaotic disso-black/death pieces next to two minute electro-bap interludes wasn’t generally for me. Though their sound is often compared with popular dissonant or experimental death metal groups their interest in depressive rock, post-metal, electronic music niche and such doesn’t directly line up with any of the obvious names in tone, movement or sound.

‘Doomed‘ was created within the process of emotional release, a high impact point of depression which has strongly characterized its arrangement and of course overall affectation in a state which vacillates between delirium and aggression. The effect of Defacement‘s exploration of post-rock/shoegaze, dissonant death metal, and post-black ideas is intensely introspective, a high-immersive construct which both engages the issue at hand and flings itself off into long (typically instrumentally driven) escapist rants. Some of this echoes the, uh, duality explored within ‘Duality‘ last year (one two minute instrumental precedes every two songs or so) but now the tone of the full listen is entirely consistent, dramatic per a cinematically sourced dark horizon of ethereal and bleak sounds. In this sense it is closer to ‘Defacement‘ and ultimately offers a more cohesive, evocative thought.

Horror greets us to start as intro “Mournful” and opener “Portrait” present a crumbling psyche and a growling, erratically struck entrance where daggered-out riffs cut a chasm in the experience up front. The density of those opening movements (on “Portrait” specifically) and their layering isn’t so much imposing per its technical abandon but the sheer number of things going on at once. The air eventually clears in approach of the song’s third minute as we receive the first strong point of contrast, a step from chaotic boiling nox into anxiety stricken despair. Those two sensations combine for the final third of the piece and for my own taste this was actually one of the more provocative songs from Defacement to date even if they’ve not fully taken a dive into the abstract. This general mode repeats itself in shape but with a sort of blackgaze/post-black wrangling for the introduction to “Unexplainable” right after, eventually detangling the cloying dreariness of their movement into odd chord scraping clangor and increasingly diffused mood. I didn’t love the “prettiness” of that song’s conclusion at first but the ride through provides a very clear example of the tone and temperament for the full listen of ‘Doomed‘.

“Worthless” is probably the most compelling arrangement here for my own taste, first for the electrically charged darting of its skronking and scraping introductory swells and the mathcore-jetted tech death trundling that follows. Sure, it kinda predictable turns toward a progressive death plateau for respite beyond that point but the song eventually rounds itself out with faster drilling dissonance from all angles. In fact one of the main strengths of this album comes via the number of chaos-soaked layers they’ve given to the guitars here, which to me recalls the absolute mania of Ad Nauseam to some degree. “Unrecognized” appears to directly continue this thread, or, at least toy with similar textures and tone though for my own taste there are some diminishing returns as this piece drags on. The seeming dual vocal approach trades in repetitious chasmic calls and deeper, more guttural roars and this dynamic is strong enough from the start but eventually begins to wear.

In addition to “Worthless” closer “Absent” likewise compels per its more concerted arrangement, particularly the bounding-and-scraping groove which hits beyond ~55 seconds in. While I like that sludgy, aggro-metal groove n’ howl as it stabs in the effect is strengthened as it reappears a minute or so later… even if the guitar techniques being used hit with a muscle memory for late 90’s aggro metal at times. While it isn’t the most technical or imposing piece on ‘Doomed‘ it is an entertaining point of closure for the album just as their material threatens to become a bit lost in its atmosphere. Becoming a bit lost and finding no closure is likely part of the intended effect, anyhow.

Though the introductory stages of of ‘Doomed‘ make a much bigger point of impact, and the arcing thought of the full listen remains somewhat unfinished at its endpoint, the whole of Defacement‘s work here feels inspired in a way that the previous album hadn’t. While the full effect isn’t as “deep” or direct in statement as I’d typically seek in terms of a cathartic extreme metal this work generally feels like it comes from a band with an increasingly clear identity (or, voice) in mind and a still somewhat experimental foil which is ideal for communicating their emotionally driven inspiration. A moderately high recommendation.

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