Japanese death metallers DEFILED have announced their ninth studio album, “Altered State”, arriving June 12, 2026 via Season of Mist.

To mark the announcement, the band have dropped lead single “Portal”, a powerful introduction to the new album. Founding guitarist Yusuke Sumita mentioned about the album:

Like many other bands, our musical roots are heavily influenced by early ’90s death metal and ’80s thrash and hardcore, however, our interpretation is different and has branched off from the current scene.

On ‘Altered State‘, there are many catchy hooks, but tricky progressive rhythms and song structures can be found as well. The album may not be understandable after a few listens, but it taps into a blind spot that many bands have missed.

He added:

Both musically and lyrically, ‘Altered State‘ is an expansion of ‘The Highest Level’ and ‘Horror Beyond Horror‘.

The music is a combination of old-school death metal, technical-thrash riffs and the rhythmic changes of progressive rock. The lyrics are based on the dystopian world presented in George Orwell’s science-fiction masterpiece 1984. They express the madness that everyone living in the present currently feels.