Defect Designer - Chitin

Labels: Transcending Obscurity Records

Formats: Vinyl/CD/Digital

Release Date: 15 Mar 2024

Tracklist:

1. Uglification Spell

2. To Ziggurat

3. Simulacrum

4. We Will Need Your Chitin

5. We Prescribe

6. Certainty After The Kafkaesque Twist

7. Gaudy Colours From Your Plastic Bag

8. Shine Shine

9. Story Of A Styrofoam

10. Insomnia

11. Nu, Pogodi!

12. Orgone Accumulator

2025 release promos are coming in hot but I'm not done with 2024 yet (after all, I still haven't scratched the surface really). This evening's review is a case in point, as it focuses on Norwegian death metal band Defect Designer and their third full-length Chitin, which was released in March via Transcending Obscurity Records. 

For those unfamiliar,  Defect Designer is duo made up of bassist/vocalist Martin Storm-Olsen (ex-Coldflesh/Trollfest) and guitarist/vocalist Dmitry Sukhinin (Diskord). For this release they enlisted the help of drummer Eugene Ryabchenko (Fleshgod Apocalypse) and guest vocalist Bjorn Strid (Soilwork).

I’m feeling it this week. A late night on Monday after seeing Bilmuri and Sleep Token live in Leeds hasn’t helped, but my god it was worth it! I’ve come to realise that a shift or break in routine isn’t helping me either, so I’m trying my best to realign. The realisation that this review of Defect Designer’s Chitin may take two evenings to complete is very real, as is the intense opener ‘Uglification Spell’. If you like straight-forward death metal that straddles the line between traditional and technical, then this is definitely for you. 

It’s a song that defies it’s seemingly short length thanks to brutal up-tempo passages that sandwich a mid-section of such melodic/instrumental prowess. ‘To Ziggurat’ continues in the same relentless fashion as DD continues to move between brutal yet masterful death metal and moments of virtuosity. The vocals, as on the opener, are ferocious yet stay well clear of the pig-squeal trap.

If you were expecting some kind of progressive tome, you’ve missed the plot entirely. Most of the songs on Chitin barely surpass four minutes. ‘Simulacrum’ is straight out of the tech/death-grind top drawer, with hints of thrash in there for good measure. It’s utterly disgusting in the best possible way and it makes me long for sweaty, intimate local metal gigs again. Maybe Defect Designer will one day make their way to the UK and stop off in Leeds. That’d be so much fun!

‘We Will Need Your Chitin’, which is accompanied by a video, flits between metallic avant-garde weirdness and expressive death-grind in increasingly blurred fashion. Stunningly precise throughout, as it leads to ‘We Prescribe’, which pretty much continues the party with insane blasts and synths that provide a brief sense of symphony. 

Fear not though as Defect Designer soon banish any thoughts of fantasy metal during ‘Certainty After The Kafkaesque Twist’, gathering together their most brutal instrumental and vocal elements. Chitin’s latter half starts with ‘Gaudy Colors From Your Plastic Bag’ and a sludge-like tempo in places (compared to earlier songs). What I’m trying to say is that it sounds more like old-school death metal.

‘Shine Shine’ is brought to life with the melodic vocals of Soilwork’s Bjorn Strid, providing a theatrical flair and change of sound. I’m not sure how I feel about it to be honest. Both DD and Bjorn are excellent musically but the song just feels a little out of place to me. It’s followed by the experimental offering of ’Story Of A Styrofoam’, where bluesy bass/percussion/guitar passages are interspersed with more madcap death-grind.

The old-school vibes are back during the chugging riffs and bellows of ‘Insomia’. It’s title is very apt, putting into musical form the utterly draining feeling of not being able to sleep, which is something we’ve all felt at  some point. Add to that some more clean vocals that seem to mock your sleepless state. The feel completely changes again with penultimate song ’Nu, Pogodi!’ and it’s enjoyably upbeat melodies. 

It’s impossible to know where this album is going from one song to the next and that doesn’t end with album closer ‘Orgone Accumulator’. The final throw of the dice from Defect Designer and one that sees them retreating to more familiar death metal territory (though it’s anything but traditional). 

This album has been a journey! One full of bizarre twists and turns. Defect Designer’s vision of death metal is definitely their own and it’s always evolving. Chitin is an ambitiously delivered album and I think there is still so much more to come from this band.

You can stream Chitin and purchase both on CD, and digitally below (vinyl copies are sold out):-

Defect Designer - https://www.facebook.com/defectdesigner1

Transcending Obscurity Records - https://www.facebook.com/transcendingobscurityrecords