EP REVIEW: Déterré – Despised Icon

For the band’s 20th anniversary, Canadian deathcore legends DESPISED ICON have released an EP of old material. Made up of two split EPs, one from 2004 and one from 2006, the songs are being re-released all in the name of celebrating the band’s history. Whilst they aren’t going to be essential listens, Déterré serves as a fun time capsule of the early days of the genre. 

The EP’s opening two tracks, taken from the 2004 split, give you an interesting glimpse of DESPISED ICON’s early sound. The opener Warm Blooded isn’t as pedal to the metal as you may assume but uses constant changes in pace to keep you unsettled. The track has small bursts of pace in between this chugging momentum that climaxes in a blast before dialling it back again for the breakdown. Whilst Bulletproof Scales which follows it is far more relentless, it also shows how back then, the band knew when to ease off the pace a little and let the grooves do the work. 

The biggest difference between the older material and the 2006 split comes in the guitars and the way they play off the drums. Boasting more technical sounding riffs and groove sections, they’re more engaging listens that show how the band progressed their sound by pushing it even further. Whilst the first two tracks play around with the pacing, the others have a bigger emphasis on balancing the elements of groove and technicality in their sound without sacrificing any of the heaviness. The way that the guitars stab at you with injections of riffs on Oval Shaped Incisions is something that the earlier tracks hinted at but now they’re at the forefront. The guitar work gives some of the tracks the feeling of someone constantly twisting a dial that speeds up and then slows down the tempo. 

The songs themselves are by no means poor individual tracks but at the end of the day, they are what they are and that’s old material taken off of split EPs. Where Déterré may be worth your time if you aren’t a DESPISED ICON completionist is in the way their sound shifts from the two projects on display here. It’s an interesting listen for any deathcore fan though it never really breaks out of its packaging of being a celebration of the band’s career to date.

Rating: 6/10

Déterré is set for release on October 28th via Nuclear Blast Records.

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