Mark down the year 2005 in your diary as the turning point when a supremely streamlined mixture of grind, tech, and death finally began to impose on larger metal audiences its viciousness as a musical style and a resolute defiance of traditional song structures. To this mix, add some breakdowns and a sextet of musicians, some of whom are barely into adulthood, and Montreal's Despised Icon are the sum.

But when they released their debut album Consumed By Your Poison on Galy Records in 2002, their style was much more evocative of early Suffocation and Pestilence with added grind; an approach that gained them a small underground fanbase already familiar with the challenging, unrelenting nature of early death metal, but also one that served to limit the band's potential as their ideas were highly derivative. So it is important to note that on their newest, The Healing Process, they have not even evolved from the old style, but rather adopted an entirely new one. While I tend to be very critical of bands making drastic changes between two albums, Despised Icon had the difficult challenge of trying to make me forget why I hate change so much. And they did so by bashing my head in with this album.

One of the main reasons this hodgepodge style of extreme music is becoming so popular, aside from the very ADD-friendly songwriting approach, is the flattering production that more and more albums are being blessed with. Having Yannick St-Amand as your guitarist, as Despised Icon do, doesn't hurt; he is arguably the premier point man for extreme metal in Quebec. His work as engineer and producer for Quebec's two biggest bands, Neuraxis and Kataklysm, is proof enough of that. And as much as producers are obsessed with self-improvement, he seems just as focused on improving his guitar sense in a band whose competition (like The Red Chord and Into The Moat) is hot on his heels. The start-stop opening riff of first track "Bulletproof Scales" displays a common trait of the album, which is simply much more interesting and captivating guitar work than their previous album, so even though the band's songs differ dramatically from their earlier work, they must have known exactly where they wanted to go in taking such a risk because it paid off.

Tracks like "Silver Plated Advocate" and "Immaculate" feature the most chugging hardcore than Despised Icon has ever written, but the digestibility of the intros and breakdowns rooted in this style is offset by the tense grind parts and slow death outtros. Other songs, like "Bulletproof Scales" and "Retina," reverse the formula and start off at hyper-speed but then settle into chugging choruses and bridges, if they can even be called that. Even on songs like "The Sun Will Never Charm Us" and closer "End This Day," the new hardcore influence is hard to ignore, although its presence is tasteful and extremely well-synthesized.

As a young band and potentially the leaders of a style set to be an increasingly common soundtrack for a generation of identity-seeking, ADD-afflicted youth, Despised Icon made a wise choice altering their sound so early in their career; even if it was at the expense of their former early death and grind style. Best leave that style to the veterans who are still writing it. The countless breakdowns on The Healing Process are sure to make the album and its songs a pit favorite, while the flawless display of grind and death will gain the band credibility in the extreme scene; perhaps not as much as if they had continued on their initial path, but this is a band not content on remaining confined to one scene, and with The Healing Process they make a convincing argument as to why they should not be chastised for their growth.

Alternate Review

Focus and dedication to one's trade, when combined with a ripe climate, leads to mass awareness and pride for the source city. So goes the story of Montreal's Despised Icon, a six-piece best described as a cutting deathcore band with enough tech accents to be considered unconventional; precisely the angle a band needs today in the increasingly overcrowded death-hybrid subgenres.

Unlike their 2002 Galy Records eye-opening debut album Consumed By Your Poison, The Healing Process contains only English lyrics. Hopefully this is not a classic case of imperialism on Century Media's part but rather the band setting aside the language they speak at home with their parents for the sake of getting down to business.

And get down to business they do almost too well. By the time the chugging, windmill-creating chorus of Bulletproof Scales kicks in soon after the song's starting point (remember: unconventional), the album is already rolling and does not stop until End This Day closes on one final guitar screech. Silver Plated Advocate has the blast beats reminiscent of earlier, more straight-forward Despised Icon (albeit abnormally accelerated this time around), time change infused and unbreakable verse grooves of now, and a numbingly slow ending. In what is the closest any song comes to abiding by deathcore conventions, Immaculate still does a fine job of fitting in despite the Roots-era Sepultura chorus riff, mostly by drastically changing up the tempo a few times at random (or what they would call calculated) points.

Second vocalist in command Steve Marois uses his voice more confidently this time around, with his shrieks fuller and his rock-bottom growl more void of tone than ever. Local veteran of all extreme scenes and band leader Alex Erian still tears off the roof with his intimidating screams, and paired with more brick-shattering slow parts, he is able to drag out his words and really kill with his vocals; Retina's breakdown is a great example of this.

Now about to embark on a tour hitting the special niche markets for this ever-growing and nearly undefinable style, Despised Icon could be on the verge of becoming the type of legends that Cryptopsy became long ago with None So Vile. This is a different era, where more time signatures, more hardcore, and more lyrics about real life are needed if a band is to rise above the throngs of others in the metal scene. The Healing Process shows a band that has truly grasped the method for synthesizing a plethora of cutting-edge extreme styles into one.