New Name to Me. Instant Replay.
I didn’t know much about Defects before today. I pulled up the new single this morning to give it a spin, and I came away pleasantly surprised. These guys sound cool, and this is worth checking out.
Defects have announced their new album, Artificial Icons, out October 16 via Mascot Records, and dropped the single “Signs,” which features Matt Heafy of Trivium. It was produced by Jim Pinder, whose recent credits include Sleep Token and Bring Me the Horizon. The band also arrives with a retooled lineup: Rowan Jack on drums and Orlando Morris-Winmill on guitar join founders Tony Maue and James Threadwell.
Here’s what jumped out: Defects sit in a lane I’m into right now, modern metalcore blended with the kind of modern heavy metal that bands like Orbit Culture and Trivium are pushing. It’s heavy and melodic without picking one over the other. And Heafy showing up as a guest on “Signs” isn’t a coincidence, it’s a co-sign from exactly the corner of metal these guys are drawing from.
The touring resume backs it up. Defects spent the last two years criss-crossing Europe opening for Trivium, Northlane, Of Mice and Men, and Orbit Culture, and hit the festival circuit at Download, Graspop, Rock Am Ring, and Summer Breeze. That’s a real workload for a band most American metal fans haven’t clocked yet.
“Signs” is built for the moment, a war-torn, dystopian track about looking for meaning when everything feels like it’s coming apart. It lands alongside earlier singles “Artificial Icons,” “Heresy,” and “All For Nothing.” There’s real weight under these songs. Maue has been open that they come from hard places, and the record doesn’t dress that up. It’s the sound of a band that had reasons to quit and didn’t.
I’m going in fresh, and the single earned a second play. Artificial Icons is out October 16 via Mascot Records. “Signs” is streaming now, embedded below. Check it out.
Source: Mascot Records