DESPISED ICON's Final Shows To Include Reunion Of Original Lineup

Montreal, Quebec, Canada extreme metallers DESPISED ICON, who announced in April that they were splitting up after an eight-year run, have issued the following update:

"It's been a while already since we made THE announcement and I know some of you are probably saying, 'WTF, these guys still aren’t done yet?!' Hahah Well, instead of canceling the tours we had in the works at the time, we figured it'd be a good opportunity to play in our favorite cities, tour in a few countries we had never visited before and rock out with you guys for the last time.

"After touring in 24 countries in the last six months, we're finally back home and getting ready to play our last Quebec and Ontario shows next week.

"This final world tour was simply amazing and since this is the last time we check in with you guys, I just want to sincerely thank you all once again for all your help and support. We've had some good fucking times together!

"For those who were planning on coming to our final Montreal shows, we have a few surprises for you. The original DESPISED ICON lineup (2002-2006) will make its appearance and play a few songs from the first two albums! We're also happy to announce that our brothers in ION DISSONANCE and BENEATH THE MASSACRE will be supporting their new records for the first time at home and ABACABB will also be playing one of their last shows ever with us. Our homies in THE ACACIA STRAIN, OCEANO and MYCHILDREN MYBRIDE will also be part of the event. It's gonna be epic. Bandeapart.ca will film and host the entire last set on their website for free so make sure you demonstrate how we do things in MTL!"

DESPISED ICON Canadian tour dates:

Nov. 29 - Quebec, QC - Imperial
Nov. 30 - Rimouski, QC - Cactus
Dec. 02 - Toronto, ON - Rockpile
Dec. 04 - Montreal, QC - Club Soda
Dec. 05 - Montreal, QC - Club Soda

DESPISED ICON explained its decision to go separate ways by saying, "Some of us have recently reached a new chapter in their lives, starting families, buying houses and pursuing other careers to make it all happen. Writing music, touring and leaving home for months at a time is slowly becoming impossible because of that. We all decided that it'd be best to pull the plug now and end things right."

"Day Of Mourning", the latest album from DESPISED ICON, sold around 3,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release to debut at position No. 162 on The Billboard 200 chart. The CD landed at position No. 6 on the Top New Artist Albums (Heatseekers) chart, which lists the best-selling albums by new and developing artists, defined as those who have never appeared in the Top 100 of The Billboard 200.

"Day Of Mourning" was released on September 22, 2009 via Century Media Records. The CD was produced by Yannick St-Amand, while the mixing duties were handled by Andreas Magnusson (THE BLACK DAHLIA MURDER, THE AGONY SCENE, SCARLET, DUFRESNE, BECOMING THE ARCHETYPE, SPITFIRE, TWELVE TRIBES). The whole thing was mastered by Alan Douches (MASTODON, THE DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN, NILE).

DESPISED ICON last year released a DVD entitled "Montreal Assault Live". The disc features a "stellar" multi-camera shoot from the band's sold-out hometown show, alongside a new hour-long documentary and all of the band's promotional video clips.