Track By Tracks: Defiant - Vanguards Of Misrule (2022)

1. Dii Inferi:

The actual title on track I have researched several years ago. Usually, I plan way ahead so when Kris (guitarist) come with a song I have several titles or at least a working concept of what is going to be all about.

Dii Inferi is Latin for ˝the god’s below˝ which represents the underworld and ancient spirits; usually for the deities like Dis or Hecate. But we put a little twist on it by adding a few audio clips from the Phantasm movies which are also an allegory of death and the incoming doom that nobody can’t avoid. It also serves as a nod to the Left Hand Path song from Entombed, which this EP is dedicated to their vocalists who passed away a year ago…

2. Vanguards of Misrule:

… which nicely transitions to this song. In Defiant we talked a lot about releasing and EP in the foreseeable future and when the pandemic happened we were fully in writing mode which resulted in this EP which pretty much is the most spontaneous but at the same time most focused record. I remember finishing up the lyrics for Vanguards when I heard the news that LG Petrov died; that night Kris and I talked about their discography (how I loved the death metal albums and he loved the death n roll ones). When I came back to writing I could not break the feeling that I’m writing this one for Lars Goran. This is why on the back of the CD it says ´´Tribute to the Chief Rebel Angel´´ and the part of the chorus goes Chief Rebel Angel be our guide.

3. Contra Omnes:

Well, the title says it all: “against all” which the full sentence is Bellum omnium contra omnes (the war of all against all). It’s kinda an oddball of the EP; sometimes songs that you work on click and in 10 minutes you are done. With this one I remember tweaking it up till the last day in the studio. Lyrically speaking it feels like an expansion on our last record Insurrection Icon. The whole EP feels like it.

4. Expulsion of the Triumphant Beast:

It’s about Giordano Bruno; it’s not uncommon for us to take a full gallon shit on historic figures (Origen, Mother Theresa on ´´Viva Dolorosa´´) but this one is different. I took a huge interest on Giordano, his research and views on the cosmos, philosophy and pantheism and his zero fucks given about opinions of the Vatican. The church was so afraid of him that they imprisoned him for a decade and the burn him at the stake in Rome. The first book that I bought that he wrote is named Expulsion of the Triumphant Beast, hence the title.

5. Dawnrazor (Fields of Nephilim):

This is a funny one; Kris and I always joked that we could not, for the life of us, write a slower mid-tempo track. Sure there are slower parts here in there but we always switch to fifth gear sooner or later in our songs. So we decide to cover a slow song, and since we are both fans old gothic rock bands like Sisters of Mercy and Fields, we settled with this one. The first idea is make slower death/doom with heavy brooding distortion and heavy howling vocals but yet again, we made the song faster, go figure. This is the first one in bands history that clean vocals are this much implemented in a track but it turned out great. I hope people will dig it.