Despised Icon - Shadow Work

Two decades into shaping the sound of deathcore, Despised Icon hit back with Shadow Work, and they’ve brought the fucking heat. Opening with the title track, the band wastes no time with Alex Erian and Steve Marois tearing into dual vocal assault with all the hatred you’d come to expect, while musically, the band are completely locked, loaded and ready to go. It’s controlled chaos waiting to destroy your ears.

This album is more than just brutality though. Lyrically, it’s about wrestling with your own demons, facing the shit life throws at you, and coming out as a harder human being on the other side. Over My Dead Body, featuring Matt Honeycutt, is an absolute anthem of defiance, combining oppressive heaviness with icy, eerie atmospheres. Death of an Artist and Obsessive Compulsive Disaster showcase the band’s technical chops, being all intricate yet utterly pulverising, whilst Corpse Pose and The Apparition prove DI can breathe, letting tension and atmospherical sounds creep under your skin.

Production is hands down flawless. Erian and Eric Jarrin nailing the balance of raw aggression and clarity, while Christian Donaldson makes sure every low end thump and breakdown crushes without muddiness. Guest spots from Scott Ian Lewis and Tom Barber feel natural, not gimmicky, adding texture to an already dense, punishing record.

Despised Icon have and always will remain deathcore titans, delivering a record that’s as smart as it is savage. If you’ve been sleeping on them, wake TF up, this is the sound of veterans reminding the world why they’re still one of the most untouchable forces in the universe of ballsy heavy music.

Words by FuegoCasa.

OUT OCTOBER 31SY VIA NUCLEAR BLAST RECORDS