Artist: DESPISED ICON
Album: BEAST VINYL (LP BLACK)

Year: 2016
EAN/UPS: 727361376512
Media type: LP

Imagine a creature laying dormant beneath the earth, in an inhuman slumber since a time long forgotten. This creature reawakens, cracks up through the ground and finds a world it barely recognizes. Chaos, disorder, brutality, bloodthirst and terror are all around. Seeking to restore some sense of order to its surroundings, the creature adopts the destructive nature it witnesses in man and begins a vengeful quest for power.

Mythology, fable and metaphor collide with »Beast«, a blistering new album marking the return of DESPISED ICON. The genre-defining band is fully reawakened, poised to recapture the crown with the monstrous and merciless might of their potent expression. Featuring the men responsible for most of the band’s now classic death metal catalog, »Beast« is a vicious commentary on the state of the world and the state of music itself.

This is old school DESPISED ICON reminiscent of »The Healing Process« (2005) and »The Ills Of Modern Man« (2007), but cast through an ultra-modern lens, carrying with it the experience and driven purpose of a band secure in their identity and their legacy. Without sacrificing the creative leaps of what many feared would be their final album, »Day Of Mourning« (2009), DESPISED ICON renew their focus on the collision of dual vocals, technical wizardry, precision dexterity and massive bottom end they helped to pioneer.

'The Aftermath' kicks off the album with brutal immediacy, encompassing the full scope of what’s ahead with unrelenting attack and classic death metal flair. 'Inner Demons' will have guitar teachers and drum instructors pulling their hair out in frustrated angst, while songs like 'Bad Vibes' put the impossible sounding shred workouts on the backburner in favor of brute force. Throughout the album, deep grooves reminiscent of the best of OBITUARY, DYING FETUS, INTERNAL BLEEDING, or even BIOHAZARD pulse within the fierce aggression. There’s melody to be found in songs like the French-language 'Drapeau Noir.' The dual vocal style DESPISED ICON fans love is as unrestrained as ever.

From the savagely unhinged vocals to the inexhaustible pound of the blast beats, DESPISED ICON’s new album is a swift reminder that this band is one of the originators of a powerful movement in extreme metal. The »Beast« is reawakened and ready to rumble. DESPISED ICON is back, ladies and gents, with no frills, no bullshit, and just total power.

Side A:

01. The Aftermath
02. Inner Demons
03. Drapeau Noir
04. Bad Vibes

Side B:

01. Dedication To Extinction
02. Grind Forever
03. Time Bomb
04. One Last Martini
05. Doomed
06. Beast


LINE-UP:

Alex Erian | vocals
Steve Marois | vocals
Eric Jarrin | guitars
Ben Landreville | guitars
Sebastien Piché| bass
Alex Pelletier | drums
Yannick St-Amand | sound