INTERVIEW: Eric Jarrin – Despised Icon
The disbandment of Montreal deathcore progenitors DESPISED ICON back in 2010 left a considerable void in the world of extreme metal. A shift in priorities and family responsibilities necessitated a dissolution, but such a lengthy time away only seemed to strengthen the collective’s creative resolve. 2016 would see the band return, sign with label giants Nuclear Blast and put out fifth studio album Beast. Currently in the midst of a colossal European tour, we caught up with guitarist Eric Jarrin ahead of a sold-out show at Mama Roux’s to find out more about the creation of the record, life on the road, and what’s coming next for the band in the immediate future.
Welcome back to Birmingham! Have you and the guys had the opportunity to wander the city since you arrived?
Eric: Thanks for having me! We’ve had a chance to walk downtown a little bit, but that was mostly just to get food and coffees. We don’t have time for much sightseeing as we used to back in the early days! I do like to see different cities and try to catch more of the cultural stuff, but this is also our first proper headlining tour so the daily schedule is different – we load in early, then we have to set up and do soundchecks. Ten years ago when we were opening for bigger tours, we would just spend the whole day out then just come back for a quick set-up before playing. We’re also doing more press these days so we have to co-ordinate that accordingly.
This is date number five of the Europe MMXVIII tour. You played London last night and we’ve seen reports online that the reaction was nothing less than ferocious. How has the tour been so far?
Eric: It’s literally been beyond anything we could have expected! We’ve been doing this for quite some time now – we’ve been a band for sixteen years, broke up during those sixteen years and had a good five years off – so to see that people still care and that we’re somehow still relevant and they want to come out and see us is just amazing. We don’t take anything for granted and we are just super stoked and grateful with what is happening. Antwerp was sold-out, last night was very close to being sold-out, tonight is sold-out so its just amazing.
In terms of your audience at shows – how do the European fans differ to those in the US?
Eric: I think overall people over here in the UK and Europe are just friendlier! It depends which country we play, but England for sure is very, very welcoming and the crowds go hard here. We go full circle with our crowds – we give them energy and they give it right back.
You’ve been joined by MALEVOLENCE, ARCHSPIRE and VULVODYNIA on this run. That’s a formidable mix of deathcore, slam, tech-metal and hardcore. Can you tell us how this unholy union came to fruition?
Eric: Our music is a mixture of all those things you just mentioned. We have strong hardcore influences, we like tech-y stuff, and we have a lot of slamming riffs so when it was time to sit down and say “okay who could we bring on tour?” and looked at who we liked and who was available, it was these guys. ARCHSPIRE had just released an album eight months ago, and when it came out we were just like “wow!” plus these guys are Canadians like us. It was the same thing with VULVODYNIA – they are so good and super-young and they want to take over the world. With MALEVOLENCE, we’ve been fans for a couple of years now and are good friends as well. We were lucky because they all said yes and here we are!
Following a lengthy hiatus, DESPISED ICON literally slammed back on to the scene in 2016 releasing your fifth full-length Beast through Nuclear Blast. Would you agree that this album was akin to a reawakening for the band?
Eric: As soon as we disbanded, Alex formed OBEY THE BRAVE because he wanted to keep on playing and doing music. For me, HEAVEN’S CRY was a band that I was in before this one and I kept in touch with those guys, but that’s a totally different game as it was focused on progressive metal and progressive rock. We had families and I don’t know if you remember but seven or eight years ago, the music scene was still struggling with the emphasis on Spotify and all the streaming services out there. But yes, our return, that reawakening of sorts, was the whole metaphor for the new album. If you pay attention to the lyrics, there’s a lot of references in there – to this dormant beast that wakes up and comes back to life and just destroys everything in its path! Back in 2010 we felt that the scene itself was saturated; especially with deathcore. There were so many bands trying to get on the deathcore wagon. It also had this negative vibe around it, metalheads would be making fun of it, so I think it was just good to take a break and then come back even stronger. I also feel that’s how we got our credibility as one of the founding bands of the genre. Back in the day, say in 2001 or 2002, apart from us and maybe ALL SHALL PERISH, there weren’t many bands doing that style.
Tracks like The Aftermath and Bad Vibes veer between unencumbered shredding, fierce grooves and brute force trauma. Can we ask where the hell does that unbridled aggression come from?
Eric: [laughs] I don’t know to be honest! It’s funny because when we wrote Beast we just approached the songwriting the same way we always did. There are two writing teams in the band – it’s me and our drummer (Alex Pelletier) and then me and Alex (Erian) the vocalist. We just meet up at my place and take the guitar and jam. We just get these ideas, get together and put them down on the computer and track stuff and go from there.
There’s a song on Beast (Drapeau Noir) – that is sung entirely in French. Was it important to include a track composed in your native tongue?
Eric: Absolutely. On our first album, half of the lyrics on there were in French but I think when we started on the Day of Mourning album, it became important to us to at least have one song just to show that we’re proud of our roots. It’s important for us to try and keep things captivating and interesting – especially if someone is going to just sit and listen to the whole album.
DESPISED ICON have amassed a steady following through touring with some incredibly diverse bands – from CRYTOPSY to BEHEMOTH and HATEBREED. Do you think that the relentless touring pushed you to really hone your stagecraft as performers?
Eric: These bands had such a huge impact on us and we’ve been lucky enough to support them on different tours. We would look at these bands performing live and just said to one another “wow, this is how you do it!” and that pushed us to take it to the next level ourselves.
DESPISED ICON have undoubtedly influenced a myriad of bands that fall under the extreme music umbrella. Who are your influences – individually and as a collective?
Eric: Mostly old-school stuff – I’m almost 40 and most of the guys are in their mid-thirties so we were all teenagers during the Nineties. Bands like CANNIBAL CORPSE, SUFFOCATION, DIMMU BORGIR and some black metal. Old-school hardcore like MADBALL and HATEBREED. I can’t ignore the “Big Four” either – METALLICA, SLAYER, ANTHRAX, MEGADETH. I grew up listening to those guys – one of my first albums on cassette was ANTHRAX. All of that combined with the Florida death metal scene of the early Nineties like DEICIDE and OBITUARY – they’ve all influenced us individually and collectively.
As it goes, the UK deathcore scene is flourishing with more and more bands emerging over recent times. What are your thoughts on the genre right now and where do you see it going?
Eric: I think right now it’s like there’s a new wave, or second wave, of deathcore. I guess every trend just comes, gets less popular and then comes back after a couple of years. I’m just happy that’s its returning, that people do still appreciate it for what it is and that the good bands stand out and do their thing.
You’re hitting up Mama Roux’s tonight. What can we expect from the set – are you guys going to be playing material across the entire discography?
Eric: We don’t tour as much as we used to, we don’t do it full-time anymore, we play between 25-40 shows a year at the most. So, whenever we do get on tour, we will always try to make the most out of it and we’ll try and play a bit of everything for everyone. You can expect old classics, a little bit of the new stuff as this is our first time in Europe since we released the album. It’s an hour of DESPISED ICON at full-blast. I’ve watched every band on the tour so far too – they’re amazing at what they do so it’s going to be a good night!
And finally, what’s next for DESPISED ICON following the conclusion of this tour at the end of the month?
Eric: We go to Manchester tomorrow and then the end of the tour marks the conclusion of this album cycle. We already have a couple of new songs written so the plan is just to hit the studio as soon as we get back and continue writing. We have a few festivals here and there in North America over the next few months but nothing too hectic as we want to focus on getting new stuff ready for early next year. The problem with Beast was that the album release date didn’t match our touring plans. With the new album, we’ll make sure we set up everything tour-wise then decide on a release date and make it match with a US AND European tour. We’ll be back!
Beast is out now via Nuclear Blast Records.
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