Kings of Deathcore Despised Icon have over the course of their past two releases forged the reputation of ground breakers. 2005’s ‘The Healing Process’ broke new ground in the merging of Hardcore and traditional Death Metal and the good work continued to roll into 2007’s ‘The Ills of Modern Man’. So to be fair it is their own fault that their new album, ‘Day Of Mourning’ is released amid a torrent of expectation to see if the stellar highs the band has set can be delivered once more.

The first challenge this particular bunch of Canucks needs to over come is the saturation of the genre, in the two years since ‘The Ills Of Modern Man’ the likes of The Red Cord, All Shall Perish and Through The Eyes Of The Dead have all established themselves as players when it comes to Deathcore. The next is the bands own exacting standards. With two premiere releases to date under their belts there will come a time when their innovation will either stunt and they’ll hit the proverbial creative wall or just they’ll slightly miss the mark creatively; and the wolves’ love nothing more than a failure to feast upon.

By the end of the first listen you have a warm reassurance that the status quo has been maintained and Despised Icon’s crown of kings of Deathcore is secure for at least another album. ‘Day Of Mourning’ delivers on all levels with the mixture of groove and brutality beautifully balanced to produce a fist clenching, throat burning demonstration of a band taking that step up to the plate; and surpassing it. The duelling vocals of Steve Marois and Alex Erian shows progression, the gruff traditional Death Metal growls by contrast to the Hardcore barks gives the songs a yin and yang effect little seen or heard in many of the genre’s other protagonists.

The album marries time changes with pin point precision taking you from the raging ‘All For Nothing’ to the bands most emotive track to date, ‘Sleepless’ in seamless fashion. ‘Day Of Mourning’ is by no means a subdued affair by any stretch of the imagination with the whole album crushing you like a motherfucker. Despised Icon continue to be the benchmark for any act looking to call themselves Deathcore and in this humble scribes opinion if you pick up only one album this year with the tag of Deathcore attached to it, it should ‘Day Of Mourning’. The bar continues to rise so it is for everyone else to catch up or fall by the waste side.