Finally looked this one up.
PLRM 2ed, Appendix I Guidelines for Specific Operators
===
setmatrix
Should be used with a matrix that was previously obtained
using the currentmatrix operator or its equivalent. It can
be used for drawing objects such as ovals:
matrix currentmatrix
rx ry scale
0 0 1 0 360 arc
setmatrix
stroke
This example ensures that the oval is drawn with an even
stroke. However, do not use this operator to perform such
operations as flipping the coordinate axes. Instead, use
the concat operator and concatenate to the current
transformation matrix. Ordinarily, Postscript programs
should modify the CTM (by using the translate, scale, rotate,
and concat operators rather than replacing it.
===
So `matrix defaultmatrix setmatrix` is definitely discouraged.
Doing this is not what one ordinarily should do.