Endless blast beats and breakdowns are the most annoying things in Deathcore, ever. Most of the bands in the genre overuse them and wind up turning aggression into mushy indulgence. The once promising DESPISED ICON turned heads with their first two albums by showing not only talent, but class and restraint. Unfortunately, "Day Of Mourning" shows neither and turned what once was so good into heaps of pointless riffing, walls of blasting and groaning breakdowns. It's a whole lot of aggression that just doesn't go anywhere, ever.

From the starting moments, it sounds like good Deathcore. The chugging riffs, roars, squeals and screams are all in check. DESPISED ICON has always had one of the most impressive vocal duos, and they appear here in top form. But the moment the hyperblasting starts, "Les Temps Changent" implodes. The band attempts to save face trying to ape DYING FETUS, but the generic breakdown riffs and gang vocals are completely ineffective. And at first, it appears like a fluke because the title track seems to bring the band back to classy and sincere territory. But by the time "MVP" rolls along, it's back to the noisy nonsense. One of the main problems is that the drums are so hot in the mix that any riffs or vocals that appear under the whirling blasts are completely drowned out in a wall of jack hammering. The other problem is that when the band slows down, the breakdown fests are boring and the passionless shouting quickly gets annoying.

The band also seems incapable of trying to not follow the start-speed-breakdown-speed-breakdown-serious mosh breakdown-speed-stop formula. This is Deathcore by rote and trying to tell the difference between most songs is quite difficult. At times they try to break the speed barrier on "Made Of Glass" and "Black Lungs", but both songs seem unfocused as they wander around as if the band wants to challenge MISERY INDEX but is terrified to not have a breakdown. "Diva Of Disgust" is a rumbling fest that thankfully shows a bit of creativity in the riff and tempo department despite having a silly title. "Entre Le Bien Et Le Mal" is painfully typical until the melody and solos appear near the end of the song. And while latter half of the disc is a wee bit stronger than the first, it all gets nauseating with the nightmare inducing "Sleepless", starting with slow, haunting melody and clean picking that degrades the amazing change of pace into a Doom-drenched, senseless scream fest.

There are a few interesting riffs and some moments where the band actually breaks from the genre's strict formula, but it's not enough nor is it memorable. Plus, any of the truly unique moments are usually buried under a bunch of excessive, noisy blasting. Some all-over print T-shirt wearing scenesters will dig all of the mosh moments and sick drumming, but this wouldn't appeal to anyone not drowning in undying love for Deathcore. While "Day Of Mourning" isn't the worst album ever, it's disappointing as these Canadians have done much better.