Despised Icon

Featuring folks who have spent time with Neuraxis, Necrotic Mutation and the excellent In Dying Days, Quebec's Despised Icon are a force to be reckoned with. Well, almost, as Consumed By Your Poison shows extreme potential but gets dragged into the muck of generic Corpse death once too often in its perfect 26-minute playing time. For the most part, the band plays pummelling death metal with a nice groove and guttural vocals; Internal Bleeding immediately comes to mind, but with more variety and a nice down-to-earth hardcore, almost crust, vibe, at times. The two vocalists (one male, one female, I think) provide a multitude of sounds not usually heard in the realm of oppressive Cookie Monster vocals, and it totally helps to give this album a sense of humanity and originality. Brutal, well played and technically adept, this sounds great, looks great and with just a touch less monotonous pummelling, Despised Icon has got it made.