The Defaced

Swedish neo-thrash metal quintet the Defaced features vocalist Henrik Sjöwall alongside guitarists Klas Ideberg and Mattias Svensson, bassist Jörgen Lofberg, and drummer Henry Ranta. Several members already held established positions within Sweden’s metal community, as Ranta performs with Soilwork and both Ideberg and Lofberg belong to Darkane. The Defaced nevertheless steer away from the melodic death-metal approach commonly associated with those groups, aligning instead with the style of U.S. bands such as Pantera and Machine Head. After issuing a five-song demo in 2000, the group secured a recording contract with Italy’s Scarlet Records label. Their debut album, Domination Commence, appeared on Scarlet in 2001 and received a simultaneous North American release through Nuclear Blast under a licensing agreement.