Defects announce new album Artificial Icons and unveil Matt Heafy collaboration Signs

Defects are returning with a new album, Artificial Icons, and have dropped a new single titled Signs that features Trivium’s Matt Heafy.

The album follows 2024’s Modern Error and is set to land on October 16 via Mascot Records and its songs are billed in a press release as “personal fights via homelessness and addiction, messed-up systems, and broken connections.” Its tracklist also features the recent singles Heresy, Artificial Icons and All For Nothing.

It is also their first album since they announced significant changes to their line-up earlier this year, with guitarist Taylor Brown and drummer Rowan Jack now joining vocalist Tony Maue and guitarist James Threadwell.

On the album’s new single Signs, which imagines life in a war-torn environment, Tony reveals: “I want to write songs that matter. To make people think. People are dying. This needs to be addressed. It’s about looking for meaning. Trying to find a place to belong. There’s frustration, but also determination, even when the world feels like it’s crumbling. I’m so excited that this one features Matt.”

Check it out below:

Artificial Icons tracklist

1. Heresy
2. Artificial Icons
3. Where Did I Go Wrong
4. Signs (feat. Matthew K. Heafy)
5. Interlude
6. Critic
7. State of Mind
8. Hollow
9. The Other Side
10. All For Nothing
11. Afterglow

And here’s the artwork:

Read this next:

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• Cancer Bats: “People genuinely get something out of our music. That's why I want to still be doing this, I want to be there for those people”