Despised Icon - Consumed by Your Poison (2002)^{Release ID: 5486}

I wouldn't have had the leeway to enjoy this 5 to 10 years ago, but g****mn, this is one of the best brutal technical death metal/core fusions I've heard! Despised Icon's debut album Consumed by Your Poison was first released via Galy Records in 2002 in their homeland Canada. It wasn't until 4 years later, after releasing their second album The Healing Process, when they re-released it to the rest of the world, thanks to Century Media.

One of the vocalists is different from the rest of the discography, screaming gal Marie-Hélène Landry. Her vocals sound a bit weird but you'll get used to it. The structure and brutality gives the band a similar vibe to their country's small tech-death scene led by Gorguts and Cryptopsy.

The addictive "Compelled to Copulate" rapidly fires brutal death metal/core mayhem without ever lighting up. "Poissonnariat" can please the more brutal fans who can tolerate the gore within the tempos, riffs, and bass. Those first two tracks were later re-recorded as bonus tracks for the re-release. "Grade A-One" has more groove while continuing the ultraviolent chaos. "Le Chêne et le Roseau" is almost like a more hardcore Cephalic Carnage.

The one-minute deathgrind track "Dead King" starts with a weird industrial intro, then continues blasting off in some of the most inventive vocal variation in all of deathcore. "Absolu" is an absolute highlight of early deathcore hellfire. "Fashionable" helps the band show that they're display their deathcore in wild madness rather than fashion.

"Interfere in Your Days" is another track that's more chaotic than even mathcore bands like Psyopus. "Clef de Voûte" has pretty much the most teamwork in any of 2000s deathcore. The technical riff-wrath continues leveling up from groove to sounding similar to Between the Buried and Me at that time. "Despise the Icons" is one more short grinder that seems a bit like an afterthought, while not affecting the rest.

Marie-Hélène Landry would end up leaving the band after this album, but a different vocalist would help lead the band into fame and do those aforementioned re-recordings for the re-release. This pummeling gem should be listened to by the more brutal metalheads before judging. Let the brutal deathly storm descend!

Favorites: "Compelled to Copulate", "Dead King", "Absolu", "Interfere in Your Days", "Clef de Voûte"