Despised Icon will release their sixth studio record Purgatory on November 15th via Nuclear Blast Records. Pre-orders are available now at this location. A music video for the title track has also debuted online and can be found below.
Vocalist Alex Erian said of the effort:
“It’s about taking the right, and necessary steps to better yourself and fix the things that are going wrong. Transitioning from a state of constant negativity into something more constructive or healthy. It’s not about achieving perfection, but finding a middle ground between those good and bad impulses.”
Guitarist Eric Jarrin adds:
“The definition of ‘purgatory’ is a place of challenges where you go through difficulties and try to overcome them… and on a band level, it’s where we were when we wrote these songs.”
The effort features cover art by artist Eliran Kantor (Slayer, Soulfly). Speaking of their decision to work with Kantor, Erian states:
“We felt [Kantor’s] style of artwork matched the tone and mood of the album. It seems like in the deathcore artwork scene there are a lot of aliens, space, planets, post apocalypse, and monsters etc. We wanted to kind of go the opposite way and do a real piece of art like a renaissance painting,”
The group handled production for Purgatory themselves with help from their former guitarist and current front of house engineer Yannick St-Amand. Mixing and mastering was then handled by Cryptopsy guitarist Christian Donaldson. On working with Donaldson, Jarrin explains:
“We knew [Christian] had what it takes to understand our vision but at the same time bring it to another level and give it something refreshing, and he did just that. I must also mention that Alex spent a lot of time producing the vocals. There are a lot of layers, more so than on any other record.”
The group will embark on a headlining tour of North America with Kublai Khan, Ingested, Shadow of Intent later this month. Select dates of the trek will also feature Suffocation, Devourment, AngelMaker, I Am, and I Declare War.
Purgatory track listing:
- “Dernier Souffle”
- “Purgatory”
- “Light Speed”
- “Slow Burning”
- “Snake in the Grass”
- “Vies D’Anges”
- “Moving On”
- “Unbreakable”
- “Apex Predator”
- “Legacy”
- “Dead Weight”
