Despised Icon - Shadow Work
- Carlo
- Nov 6
- 2 min read
Label: Nuclear Blast
Release Date: October 31st, 2025
After 6 years, Montreal deathcore kings are back with Shadow Work, their 7th LP. Released on a busy Halloween, the album is a lukewarm but solid enough outting that displays the deathcore vets’ chops and why they are still one of the last OGs goin hard. This is manic, brutal, technical deathcore that also highlights the hardcore part of the genre.
Shadow Work showcases a veteran band with the energy of younger, hungrier, and newer outfit. They’re firing on all cylinders, reaffirming their elite status in technical deathcore brutality. God this drummer is so fucking cracked out. That said, beyond the initial couple listens, this album is not drawing me back to listen again. There isn’t much for me that’s memorable. If I’m gonna listen to Despised Icon, this isn’t the album I’m turning on first. The features are fine but Despised Icon doesn’t need any features. They honestly almost take away from the album more than they add to it. Maybe it’s just the choice of features. I think maybe I’d feel differently if it was John or Sean from Dying Fetus on one of the tracks. I feel that would make more sense for the band anyway given they recently-ish toured with them. I digress.
Shadow Work is better than most the deathcore bullshit coming out nowadays. God what fucked up subgenre. The Apparition is the highlight track here, my personal favorite. It’s got a little Acacia Strain vibe to it, a little Crowbar-ish type thing going on in the middle of the song that I really enjoy. Omen Of Misfortune and Fallen Ones are barn burners as well.
The album is solid, people are loving it, and rightfully so. While I personally don’t connect with it as much as some others may, and don’t think Shadow Work tops the bands previous LP Purgatory, objectively it is still an album that has plenty to offer for fans of the band and fans of heavy music in general. It is totally worth checking out to see what you think.
Score: 6/10
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