Chronicles Of Lunacy CD

DEFEATED SANITY descend once more into sonic madness with their seventh album, Chronicles of Lunacy. Renowned for merging the old-school death metal aesthetic with jazzy chaos and the technical finesse of classical composition, the German quartet now revisit the brutal origins that made them underground legends. While still twisting tempos and hammering out mind-warping patterns—particularly evident on lead single “The Odour of Sanctity”—the band’s prime focus this time is on neck-snapping ferocity and visceral low-end heaviness.

Recorded at The Thousand Caves in Queens, NY, with producer/engineer Colin Marston, Chronicles of Lunacy harnesses the raw aggression reminiscent of Psalms of the Moribund. Founding drummer Lille Gruber underpins the chaos with constantly shifting blasts, while Jacob Schmidt’s bass slams and new guitarist Vaughn Stoffey’s eerie, dissonant riffs keep the intensity levels peaking. Vocalist Josh Welshman adds roiling gutturals that roar out themes of delusional thought and how it mutates the human mind. Guest vocalists Danny Nelson and Paolo Paguntalan join the fray on “Amputationsdrang” and “Accelerating the Rot,” the latter touted as Defeated Sanity’s fastest track to date.

With cover art by Jon Zig and title lettering by Liz Schmidt, Chronicles of Lunacy strikes a balance between intricate songwriting and absolute brutality, reaffirming Defeated Sanity as a death metal powerhouse determined to snap spines and warp minds once again