Dive Into the Mouth of Madness With Defeated Sanity

Defeated Sanity is living up to its name.

Behind its latest album, Chronicles of Lunacy (released last year via Season of Mist), the Bavarian-born brutal-death masters are outlining all ilks of madness. The decision to wade through decaying mental mindscapes was a conscious one, according to longtime bassist Jacob Schmidt, especially after the band explored cruelties within the animal kingdom on its previous record, 2020’s The Sanguinary Impetus.

“Before we write any lyrics, we usually think up a theme for the next album,” he explains, adding that vocalist Josh Welshman and original drummer Lille Gruber are in charge of outlining such insanity. “We wanted to stay true to our name and venture back into the world of human insanities, so Chronicles of Lunacy is particularly about psychotic, delusional and psychopathic disorders.”

It sure is, as the eight tracks are a journey filled with delusional brain rot, ruinous religious zealotry and rabies-induced rage with such tracks as “Temporal Disintegration,” “The Odour of Sanctity” and “Extrinsically Enraged.” There’s even a song that peers into the mind of co-ed serial killer Ed Kemper, titled “A Patriarchy Perverse.”

Defeated Sanity brings it all to life with the trademark technically it’s become known for since forming in 1993, when a pre-teen Gruber started laying down jazz-and-classical-inspired death-metal jams with his late father and cofounding guitarist Wolfgang Teske, who passed in 2010.

According to Schmidt, who joined in 2005, the acrobatic playing that Defeated Sanity entails is a deliberate test of proficiency for all involved and one of the main reasons the group continues to push forward. “We just like to challenge and not repeat ourselves, keeping things fresh with every new album,” he says, adding that Chronicles is deliberately “straight and brutal.”

“When we write a new song, we always struggle being able to play it, and it will take us months of practice, sometimes years, to get it where we can perform the songs at the level we aspire to,” Schmidt continues. “The struggle itself is what keeps us going so we don’t get bored.”

Defeated Sanity, which includes current guitarist Vaughn Stoffey, has long established itself as an underground giant known for complex compositions, led by Gruber’s spider-like drumming, and caveman-crushing heaviness. Recently, the band has experienced a well-deserved surge in popularity within the greater metalsphere, as evidenced by Chronicles sneaking onto Billboard‘s Rock, Hard Music, and Independent charts.

“I always like to think that we are playing the long game with Defeated Sanity,” Schmidt says. “Whereas some other bands have enjoyed the phenomenon of ‘overnight fame,’ for us it has just been a long and steady upward grind of releasing music and playing shows all over the world.

“I do feel that every album and every tour brought us a boost. But it’s been pretty sustainable, rather than the boom-and-bust that can come with a lot of hype, so I am very happy with that,” he continues. “We have always been more about building a legacy rather than doing what other people want us to do. Because of that, it sometimes feels like we aren’t moving, but when I zoom out, I do see where we are and where we came from when I joined twenty years ago. Playing underground shows to twenty people and sleeping on the floor in friends’ homes was the norm. It does make me a bit proud that we weathered all that to get to where we are now.”

There is sure to be more than twenty people at Summit, when Defeated Sanity performs as part of a death-drenched bill on Saturday, November 8. Sanguisugabogg (we’re not sure how to pronounce it either), Despised Icon and Corpse Pile are also playing. So buckle up, and keep your head on a swivel out there because Defeated Sanity is more than ready to tenderize American audiences, at this show and beyond.  

“America deserves a big tour package to kick off this cycle,” Schmidt concludes. “And fans can expect a 35-minute onslaught of pure brutality. Hopefully it will leave them hungry to come back for our next headliner run that will take place sometime in 2026.”

Defeated Sanity, with Sanguisugabogg, Despised Icon and Corpse Pile, 5 p.m. Saturday, November 8, Summit, 1902 Blake St. Tickets are $37.