Despised Icon is a Canadian deathcore band from Montreal, Quebec, active since 2002 and widely credited as one of the genre's founding acts. The six-piece is built around dual vocalists Alex Erian and Steve Marois, whose contrasting techniques - mid-range screams and deep growls - became a template for the genre. After disbanding in 2010 and reforming in 2016, they released their seventh album Shadow Work (Nuclear Blast, 2025), which won the Juno Award for Metal/Hard Music Album of the Year in March 2026.
Despised Icon announced the 'Death Dominion Tour' - a 20-date European co-headline run with Carnifex and Suffocation, kicking off October 29, 2026 in Munich.
Despised Icon won the Juno Award for Metal/Hard Music Album of the Year for Shadow Work at the 55th annual ceremony in Hamilton, Ontario on March 29, 2026.
The band released their seventh studio album Shadow Work on October 31, 2025 via Nuclear Blast Records, their first full-length since Purgatory (2019).
Shadow Work was announced with lead single 'Over My Dead Body' on August 8, 2025, followed by 'Death of an Artist' and 'The Apparition' ahead of the album's release.
In early 2025 the band confirmed they were actively working on new music and planning tour dates, responding to fan requests on social media.
The Death Dominion EU 2026 tour brings three leading death metal acts—Despised Icon, Carnifex, and Suffocation—to Munich.
Death metal and deathcore titans Despised Icon, Carnifex and Suffocation unite on one stage for the Death Dominion EU 2026 tour stop in Essen.
A metal evening with three bands: Despised Icon, Carnifex, and Suffocation at Arena Wien.
Despised Icon, Carnifex, and Suffocation unite for the Death Dominion EU 2026 tour – a night of brutal death metal and deathcore at the Felsenkeller in Leipzig.
Three legends of deathcore and brutal death metal – Carnifex, Despised Icon, and Suffocation – perform together at Warsaw's Proxima. A concert for extreme metal fans.
The Death Dominion EU 2026 tour brings together three leading death metal bands: Despised Icon, Carnifex, and Suffocation.
Despised Icon, Carnifex, and Suffocation unite for the Death Dominion EU 2026 tour – a night of brutal death metal and deathcore at Hamburg's Gruenspan.
The Death Dominion EU 2026 tour brings three leading death metal bands—Despised Icon, Carnifex, and Suffocation—to Karlsruhe.