Defects are back, and they’re not here to make you feel comfortable. The UK metalcore outfit has just announced their sophomore album, Artificial Icons, due October 16 via Mascot Records — and they’ve dropped the dystopian new single “Signs,” featuring none other than Trivium’s Matt Heafy, to prove they mean business.

Produced by Jim Pinder (Sleep Token, Bring Me the Horizon), Artificial Icons is a record that fizzes with anger, frustration, and the sheer will to keep moving forward. Where 2024’s Modern Error documented vocalist Tony Maue’s anguish around being taken into care at a young age, this new chapter picks up the thread and pulls harder. Grief and trauma don’t evaporate — they mutate. Artificial Icons is the sound of a band staring that mutation down.

“Signs” drops the listener smack into a war-torn landscape, and Maue doesn’t mince words about his intent. “I want to write songs that matter. To make people think,” he says. “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.” Heafy’s presence gives the track a scorched, cinematic weight — the kind of guest spot that actually earns its billing.

The album pushes into socio-political territory on tracks like the title cut “Artificial Icons” and “Heresy,” a full-throated confrontation with blind faith and false hope. Then it turns the lens inward on “All For Nothing,” where Maue revisits some of the darkest chapters of his life. “When I was younger, overthinking led me to drugs. I nearly died. The worst part was feeling alone. When I did drugs, I gave up. If I stop moving forward, I fall back.”

Songs like “The Other Side” and “Afterglow” get even more unflinching. “‘Afterglow’ was saying, go on without me. I don’t know if I’ll be able to fix myself,” Maue shares. “It was a goodbye message, almost.” He’s quick to reassure listeners he’s in a better place now: “I’m fine now. The number of times I haven’t been is still outbalanced.”

Guitarist James Threadwell frames the leap between records perfectly. “Modern Error was built from the very first songs we ever crafted from the moment of getting into a studio together. On this album, we really had the space to develop and grow into ourselves. It’s an exciting metamorphosis.” That metamorphosis also includes some fresh blood — the band now welcomes Rowan Jack on drums and Orlando Morris-Winmill on guitar.

Defects have earned this moment the hard way, tearing across Europe in 2024-2025 alongside Trivium, Northlane, Of Mice and Men, Orbit Culture, and Funeral for a Friend, plus a festival run that reads like a metalhead’s bucket list: Download, Slam Dunk, Rock Im Park, Rock Am Ring, Graspop, Summer Breeze, and more.

ARTIFICIAL ICONS TRACK LISTING:
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

Artificial Icons drops October 16 via Mascot Records. Pre-order/pre-save it now, and get a first taste of the album’s world below.

Watch “Artificial Icons”: https://youtu.be/89oFkXRquCU

As Maue puts it, “I can’t give up. I’ve given up before. I know what that looks like, and I’m not doing that again.” On the evidence of what’s landed so far, giving up is the last thing on this band’s mind.