After years as one of the UK’s most successful unsigned acts, London modern metal mob THE DEFILED have signed a worldwide deal with Nuclear Blast Entertainment, who will release their second album, Daggers, this summer.

To whet the appetites of fans, the first song from the album, 'Sleeper', will be released via iTunes this Sunday, March 17th. A lyric video for the track can be seen below:

Frontman Stitch D states: “We're ecstatic to announce that we are signing to Nuclear Blast Entertainment. After years of being an independent band and doing everything DIY we can't wait to have such a huge label and great team behind us to take us to the next level. It’s an honour to be working with a label that have released some of our favourite bands of all time.”

The Avd added: “It's amazing to get the seal of approval from Nuclear Blast, all the years of barely scraping by and putting literally everything in to The Defiled have finally been recognised by the amazing team that is Mark Palmer and Monte Conner. We have wanted to work with these guys for years now and our dream is being realised. Signing to Nuclear Blast means we can now go world wide and do this thing properly, the way we have always envisioned in our heads.”

Monte Conner, President of Nuclear Blast Entertainment states: "The Defiled are real self-motivators and what they have accomplished so far all on their own is very impressive and caught my attention. With the added muscle of Nuclear Blast, they can do some serious damage this time. Most importantly, the new album is a HUGE step forward in every direction. Great songwriting and violent production meld together to create something that will very forcefully imbed itself in your brain."

The Defiled tour with GHOST and GOJIRA this month as part of the Jägermeister Music UK tour. Dates include:

March

18 - Sheffield, UK - O2 Academy
19 - Glasgow, UK - O2 Academy
20 - Bristol, UK - O2 Academy
22 - Bournemouth, UK - O2 Academy
23 - Birmingham, UK - O2 Academy
24 - Brixton, UK - O2 Academy

The band also have a run of shows in May around Takedown Festival:

May

9 - Margate, UK - West Coast Bar
10 - Brighton, UK - Haunt
11 - Southampton, UK - Takedown at Southampton Uni
12 - Exeter, UK - Cavern
13 - Bristol, UK - Fleece