After more grindcore beginnings, one could argue that the modern deathcore movement peaked with either 2005s The Healing Process or The Ills of Modern Man, this Canadian act’s third full length album, in 2007. My vote is for the latter. But after 2009s Day of Mourning, the band split up as deathcore began to fade and wane under its own saturated weight.

Well, the devastating but divisive canucks have returned after a 7 year hiatus and count me in the number that was excited as hell and completely surprised when I heard there was a new album as I thought Day of Mourning left some business unfinished. And boy has that business been finished. A sub 30 minute vortex of everything that made the band so  brutal is condensed, tighter and as brutally breakdown filled as ever. And to use the laziest of cliches and puns, Beast is an absolute Beast of an album.

The album basically delivers the same mix of Canadian tech brutality, grind and of course, hardcore inspired breakdowns, as their last three efforts, so yeah, it’s still deathcore folks, and boy did the genre need this, what with Whitechapel jumping the shark and the genre being completely unoriginal of late.

On Beast,  Yannick St Armand again delivers the tight as fuck production, this time aided by Andy Sneap’s mix and master, the effort is simply devastating. The material is a solid blend of hardcore tough guy beat downs, ample Canadian savagery,  and multi tiered vocals (mids, lows, his and good ol’ ‘reeees’) the album is a good blend of everything the band has delivered and perfected in the past, with a renewed sense of energy after a long lay off.

From the bruising opening duo of “The Aftermath” and “Inner Demons” you get a more blast laden, tech filled “Drapeau Noir” which frantically recalls the bands best moments from  Ills with a big burly hardcore groove. “Bad Vibes” (and its intentionally old school video), delivers a more straight up hardcore stomp, but laced with the typically blast-y Canadian insanity. “Dedicated to Extinction” offers a quick orchestral interlude before the grindcore ferocity of “Grind Forever” cements the fact the band can still grind, and isn’t just about breakdowns, there is a HUGE one to end the song.

And if you want those signature breakdowns, there are plenty more as heard on “One Last Martini” or the monstrous closing title track which ends the album with a forceful exclamation of “Nous sommes de retour enculés!!!!” and I for one am thrilled and hope Beast is more than a one time shot.

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