DESPISED ICON is a Deathcore band from Montreal, Canada, and they formed in 2002. They have released six full-length albums and an EP. This is their second EP, and it has five songs. "Warm Blooded" is the first. It is absolutely jam packed to the brim with heavy, aggressive, and punishing sounds, and even some Progressive elements in the meter shifting. The guttural vocals become so developed at some point they almost sound like whistles. The band puts on a horrid display of brutality here. "Bulletproof Scales" is another song that pummels the listener with heavy fists reigning down on their head faster than they can count. Before you know it, you are unconscious, and wake up a week later with a bruising headache.

"One Last Martini" is another bruising song with weighted, heavy accents that hit the ground and make caverns in it. Drums roll with lightning speed and the vocals are vile and filthy. "Oval Shaped Mountains" is even more aggressive, coming for your throat with a razor sharp blade out of the gates. From there, barren landscapes are painted with everything associated with dying. "Sever the Ties" closes the album, another bruiser. If it's even possible to be more brutal than previous songs, they manage to do so. What it lacks however is that factor of engagement. Besides moving the listener on a physical level, what else does this do?

This style of Deathcore flirts very closely with the Tech Death subgenre, in terms of how tight and surgical the band is in their songwriting. Their musicianship is impeccable as well. The songs are nearly totally devoid of melody...that's the style in fact. The question is...what does this offer to the fan who has heard this style of music many times before? The answer is, unfortunately, nothing new. Credit the band for their instrumental prowess, but not so much for their sound songwriting.