Defecto – Excluded – Power Of Metal.dk

This review should be included in Guinness World Records. Only 9 months in the making. Sometimes private/work lives just makes it impossible to meet deadlines and with my eyes focusing on improving our growing webzine, my contribution to the review section has almost been zero this year. But I simply couldn’t leave this one hanging to next year, due to the high quality product delivered and the talent involved here.

I started my writing career at powerofmetal.dk and one of my first reviews includeed the self-titled EP (read it right here…) created by the hands of Danish prog metal outfit Defecto fronted by lead-singer and mastermind Nicklas Sonne. True talent comes in all shapes and sizes. The road to success requires belief in yourself, your vision, hard work, determination and dedication. Well, Defecto has come a long way since our first handshaking 4 years ago and clearly demonstrates that hard work, drive and passion makes perfect.

Time flies and the four youngsters of Defecto, coming from my beloved home country Denmark, haven’t been resting on their laurels especially vocalist Sonne, who is a truly gifted multi instrumentalist. His musical abilities are not limited to singing and guitar shredding only, but he has also proven himself as a skilled sound enginner, who is responsible for mixing and mastering albums on which his voice is presented, counting Danish metal acts Malrun and now also progressive metal group Theory. Defecto is still his little baby though and with his caring and support over the last years, it has grown into a full metal monster ready to eat away the pumping metal hearts out there today.

Frontman Niclas is supported by his old friend and wingman Fredrik Møller on guitar. Thomas Bartholin on bass is still in charge of the rythm department and with him we find the fairly unknown Lars Jensen, at least to my ears, who was brought on board to fill out the shoes of the talented drummer & keyboardist Henrik Been, who parted ways with the band in 2012 after the release of their highly acclaimed EP. Fear not our fellow readers, the hard-hitting and fast-paced drumming skills of Lars fits perfectly into the rhythm department providing a solid foundation for Defectos heavy sounded musical landscape.

Upon my first listening it was kind of clear that these guys means business and have progressed sound-wise compared to their previous effort. Five tracks from the EP made it onto their latest creation entitled “Excluded”, and the only song left out was the more or less forgettable ending track “Out of day”. The remaining tracks included on the album have all received an much needed facelift in terms of an heavier sound now introduced that was almost non-existing in the production of the EP.

Highlights from the album includes the epic ending track ” The Sands Of Time”, which is a breathlessly grandiose earworm. It incorporates a healthy dose of soaring melodies into the heavy soundscape of Defecto with elements from progressive- and symphonic metal to keep the listener entertained. The always catchy combo riffing by Niclas and Fredrik brings out the best of both, and the voice delivery by Niclas on this song is undeniable one of his best performances so far. His versatile voice is definitely amongst the best metal singers out there today sounding like a mixture of mighty Jorn Lande and Russel Allen (Symphony X) altogether with Metallica’s frontfigure James Hetfields trademark grunting mixed in between. Another highlight of the album is the song “Into Oblivion”, which reminds me of “The Sands Of Time”, just more focused on subtle melodies and less focused on catchy riffs and hooks.

Not all highlights are big lenghty metal beasts and some good examples are the opener and title song “Excluded”, the song “Don’t Lose Yourself” and “Sovereign”, all straightforward headbanging metal anthems with a nice flow of catchy melodies, awesome solos and the punchy guitar riffs propelling the songs forward and showcasing the virtuosity of the quartet.

Over the years Defecto have transformed into something bigger, better and more beautiful than I expected and could have hoped for. This is ridiculous good and I’m a proud Dane today. The future looks bright for the quartet coming from the heart of Denmark and their take on heavy metal is a breath of fresh air much needed, not only within our borders but also worldwide. 9 big rightfully deserved devilheads coming their way. With heavy crunchy riffs, tight drum patterns, beautiful melodies, classy and powerful arrangements, and top notch musicianship this makes a strong contender for best debut of 2016.

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