A technical death metal band with a savage progressive streak, Germany's
Defeated Sanity emerged in the late 1990s as a side project for guitarist Wolfgang Teske and his son, drummer
Lille Gruber. Citing influences like
Cannibal Corpse and
Suffocation, the group issued their debut full-length effort, Prelude to the Tragedy, in 2004. Teske left the fold in 2008, leaving
Gruber as the sole original member, but the band remained prolific. After inking a deal with
Willowtip Records, they released a string of acclaimed records like
Chapters of Repugnance (2010),
Disposal of the Dead/Dharmata (2016), and
The Sanguinary Impetus (2020) that became increasingly progressive, with elements of classical music and jazz adding nuance to their scorching death metal attack.
Founded in the northern Bavarian town of Dachsbach by Teske and
Gruber in 1994,
Defeated Sanity grew into a full-time project in 1996 with the additions of bassist Jonas Gruber and vocalist Robert Colnik, both of whom appeared on the group's inaugural demos, Devoured by the Black and Withdrawn from Beauty. A series of more demos and split 7"s preceded the arrival of the band's first full-length effort, as did a re-calibration of their lineup. Prelude to the Tragedy was released in November 2004 on U.K. label Grindethic Records and was followed by a high-profile appearance at the Rotterdam Deathfest alongside death metal heavyweights
Suffocation and Visceral Remains. Personnel was tweaked ahead of the release of 2007's punishing Psalms of the Moribund, which marked the studio debuts of vocalist Jens Staschel, guitarist
Christian Kuehn, and bass player
Jacob Schmidt.
In 2008, co-founder Teske departed, as did Staschel, leaving
Gruber the lone original member.
Disgorge vocalist A.J. Magana was recruited for
Defeated Sanity's third LP,
Chapters of Repugnance, which was released by American indie
Willowtip, where the band would stay for the foreseeable future. Konstantin Lühring took over vocals on 2013's
Passages into Deformity, and the group issued the stylistically diverse two-part full-length
Disposal of the Dead/Dharmata in 2016, which introduced new screamer
Josh Welshman, who alongside
Gruber and
Schmidt now served as
Defeated Sanity's core. The band continued to flex their technical prowess on 2020's punitive
The Sanguinary Impetus. ~ James Christopher Monger