ALBUM REVIEW: Chitin – Defect Designer
If someone asked you to recommend a quintessential death/grind band the chances of you starting with DEFECT DESIGNER would be practically non-existent. However, if the recommendation was for a band rooted in death metal and grindcore with chaotic complexities and unpredictable song structures, they would be a perfect choice. Cementing their trademark infusion of avant-garde death metal and grindcore in their well-received and eccentric 2022 EP Neanderthal, it appears they haven’t finished meddling in genres, inviting elements of thrash and jazz into their first full-length album in nine years, Chitin.
Being so solidified in their convoluted sound, the Russian-turned-Norwegians are able to experiment and collide these genres together, often in a frenzied way, without winding up with a muddled mess. Instead, Chitin takes you on a puzzling journey, shifting through discombobulating riffs akin to DEMILICH and DISHARMONIC ORCHESTRA, and the same whirlwind of idiosyncratic rhythm and tempo changes you’d find on a PYRRHON record. Before even diving in, the impressive artwork by Ian Miller provides a good indication of the intricacy and utter lunacy that unfolds during this album. Frantic opening track Uglification Spell immediately showcases DEFECT DESIGNER’s signature sound of cluttered, overlapping distortion, ornate ascending riffs and outstanding drum work.
While in no way being a gag band, throughout this record DEFECT DESIGNER have effectively blended the boisterousness of the more “serious” genres with nonsensical fun without entering gimmick territory. Song titles Story Of Styrofoam and Gaudy Colors From Your Plastic Bag, and a cover of an animated Soviet slapstick comedy theme song being glaringly obvious examples of these moments, these peculiarities are also woven into the tracks themselves. To Ziggurat and We Prescribe lull you in with catchy death metal-encrusted riffs and a smattering of technical layers before including lyrics from Twinkle Twinkle Little Star and Shakespeare’s Song Of The Witches which, if anything, guarantee a smile on your face. Yet surprisingly, it’s not these quirks that provide the biggest twist on the record. Shine Shine departs from the illogical structuring, growling vocals and breakneck pace-changes and is, in short, accessible. Despite not being in keeping with their usual sound, alongside Björn Strid of SOILWORK’s captivating clean vocals, the shift invites an opportunity to appreciate the harmonisation of the three-piece outside the realm of blast beats, chops, chugs and silly riffs.
Weirdness aside, the record features moments that bathe in grindy death metal excellence. The more We Will Need Your Chitin unfolds, the more the sections overlap, intertwining spiralling riffs between intense drum work. Kafkaesque Twist lives up to its namesake by creating a maze of disorientating distortion and bizarre senseless structure which, somehow, makes complete sense. Arguably the heaviest and most off beat track on the record, Insomnia is more than enough to curl the corners of your mouth down with its boisterous chugs yet manages to float in otherworldliness and allows each instrument its time in the spotlight.
DEFECT DESIGNER have mastered the ability to keep their music far from mundane, preventing it from falling between the cracks of an overly saturated genre. Even though it’s just short of 40 minutes, Chitin packs in so many varying elements and borrowed sounds from other genres, each song feels like it could be composed of four or six contrasting tracks. Their structures are so illogical that they burst through the norms of the death and grind genres. Unsurprisingly, you have to listen intently to appreciate the full effect of this album, which may be unappealing for some, but that does not detract from the masterpiece DEFECT DESIGNER have created.
Rating: 7/10
Chitin is set for release on March 15th via Transcending Obscurity Records.
Like DEFECT DESIGNER on Facebook.