LIVE REVIEW: Despised Icon @ Mama Roux’s, Birmingham

The odds of having one’s face permanently melted off seem certain tonight with the long-awaited return of Montreal’s DESPISED ICON. The sextet bludgeoned their way back to a now thriving scene following a lengthy disbandment and with the release of 2016 monolith Beast, these deathcore progenitors have ultimately proven their creative resolve is stronger than ever. And with MALEVOLENCE, ARCHSPIRE and VULVODYNIA joining DESPISED ICON on a bill showcasing some of the most formidable talent in slam, tech and hardcore, this is one unholy union worth witnessing.

“We’re about not giving a fuck what anyone says or thinks!” spits VULVODYNIA talisman Duncan Bentley as he leads his charge into an unbridled brutal assault laying waste to this venue. Eardrums spontaneously rupture and countless bones are rattled to the point of disintegration during a dank Unparalleled Insubordination but the gut-punching depravity of quintessential slammer Flesh Tailor sounds so evil it could raise Lucifer from the fiery depths. Chugging beatdowns and brutal yet memorable riffs courtesy of the guitar section extinguishes any pre-conceived fears about the set falling foul to monotony, and the Durban collective ensure the hammers come crashing down. It’s a maniacal display of sonic annihilation.

Rating: 7/10

Combining breakneck vocal barks and complex riffery alongside progressive passages brimming with melodic introspection, Canadian tech-death titans ARCHSPIRE are an eye-popping proposition live. Sitting somewhere between half-man half-machine, vocalist Oliver Rae Aleron unleashes round after round of guttural vocals more akin to machine-gun fire during merciless opener Calamus Will Animate which is the jump-off for a set comprised largely of material from 2017’s Relentless Mutation. Low-end growls are interspersed with guttural screams during rabid cuts Involuntary Doppelgänger and Human Murmuration whilst the complex juxtaposition of neoclassical nuances and vicious blastbeats permeating the core of The Mimic Well have the power to confound and combust.

Rating: 7/10

With the din of appreciative bellows filling the dense air from the moment those wonderfully sinister strains of instrumental interlude 4AM on West Street strike up, the ensuing welcome that Sheffield’s MALEVOLENCE receives as they hit the stage is no joke. The quintet’s statement of intent is inescapably clear as they proceed to deliver a jaw-shatteringly heavy salvo of Slave To Satisfaction, Severed Ties and Condemned To Misery; sounding somewhat like the bastard offspring of Dimebag Darrell and Jamey Jasta, ferocious grooves and southern-inspired sludge collide with one another amongst a barrage of hardcore-fuelled intensity. Pits open up with impunity upon Alex Taylor’s instruction to “fuck this place up from the front to the back and from one side to the other” and the visceral rampage of Trial By Fire is heaven to anyone of the riff-worshipping persuasion.

Rating: 8/10

Having chatted to DESPISED ICON just a few hours earlier, they had promised nothing less than “a show delivered at full fucking blast” – and tonight their appetite for destruction is unrivalled. Drawing on a wealth of material all the way from 2005’s The Healing Process to latest release Beast, the Montreal sextet kick off their set with brutal immediacy; dual vocalists Alex Erian and Steve Marois stalk the stage during low-end chuggernaut A Fractured Hand before the prolapse-inducing pig squeals segue seamlessly into Bad Vibes and the unrelenting attack of The Aftermath – the latter of which consumes the baying throng beneath them as the room splits in half right around the two-minute mark and that absolutely crushing breakdown. Grindcore-tinged blasts sit alongside deep, dextrous grooves and mind-bending technical intricacies – the potent energy coursing through Les Temps Changent is infectious but ultimately it’s the sheer bludgeoning power and tandem guitar shred of songs like In The Arms Of Perdition and MVP that truly separates the faces from the flailing bodies as the final anvils crash down. A masterclass in extreme music.

Rating: 8/10

Check out our photo gallery from the night’s action in Birmingham from Serena Hill Photography: