The Ills of Modern Man is the third studio album by Canadian deathcore

Deathcore

Deathcore is an extreme metal music genre that combines elements of death metal with elements of metalcore or hardcore punk, or both. It is defined by an "excessive" use of death metal riffs, blast beats and use of hardcore punk breakdowns...

 band Despised Icon

Despised Icon

Despised Icon was a Canadian deathcore band from Montreal, Quebec. Formed in 2002, the band is notable for the use of two vocalists; Alexandre Erian, takes use of a mid-range screaming technique, and Steve Marois for the low growling vocals, and high pitched screamed vocals...

. It was released on May 22, 2007 through Century Media Records

Century Media Records

Century Media Records is an Independent record label with offices in the United States, Germany, Australia, France, Italy, Sweden, Finland, and the United Kingdom.- Background :...

. The album sold more than 2,000 copies its first week, and peaked at number 28 on the Billboard

Billboard (magazine)

Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...

Top Heatseekers

Top Heatseekers

Top Heatseekers refers to either of two separate "Breaking and Entering" music charts issued weekly by Billboard Magazine: the Heatseekers Albums chart or the Heatseekers Songs chart. They were introduced by Billboard in 1993 with the purpose of highlighting the sales by new and developing musical...

.

History

The Ills of Modern Man was recorded between January and February 2007. It was by produced by the band's former guitarist, Yannick St-Amand and was mixed by Andy Sneap

Andy Sneap

Andy "Undie" Sneap is an English record producer, recording engineer, mixer, guitarist, and songwriter. He is best known for producing and mixing many acclaimed heavy metal albums.-Musician:...

 at his own Backstage Studios in Derbyshire

Derbyshire

Derbyshire is a county in the East Midlands of England. A substantial portion of the Peak District National Park lies within Derbyshire. The northern part of Derbyshire overlaps with the Pennines, a famous chain of hills and mountains. The county contains within its boundary of approx...

, England. The album artwork was made by Felix Rancourt. The first music video from the album was made for the song, "In the Arms of Perdition", it was directed by Jean-Philippe Bernier and was filmed at -40°C on a secluded icy mountain near Quebec City

Quebec City

Quebec , also Québec, Quebec City or Québec City is the capital of the Canadian province of Quebec and is located within the Capitale-Nationale region. It is the second most populous city in Quebec after Montreal, which is about to the southwest...

.

Musical and lyrical themes

In an interview for the magazine Exclaim!

Exclaim!

Exclaim! is a monthly Canadian music magazine that features in-depth coverage of new music across all genres with special focus on Canadian and cutting-edge artists...

, vocalist, Alexandre Erian stated that the main lyrical themes of The Ills of Modern Man mainly concern regrets, fears, inhibitions and dealing with disappointment.

Critical reception

During the week The Ills of Modern Man was released, it sold more than 2,000 copies, which lead it to reach number 28 on the Billboard

Billboard (magazine)

Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...

Top Heatseekers

Top Heatseekers

Top Heatseekers refers to either of two separate "Breaking and Entering" music charts issued weekly by Billboard Magazine: the Heatseekers Albums chart or the Heatseekers Songs chart. They were introduced by Billboard in 1993 with the purpose of highlighting the sales by new and developing musical...

.

The album generally received positive reviews, Alex Henderson of Allmusic described the band's sound as a "example of technical death metal and technical metalcore coming together" and which "they have achieved a balance of accessibility and angularity". About.com

About.com

About.com is an online source for original information and advice. It is written in English, and is aimed primarily at North Americans. It is owned by The New York Times Company....

 reviewer Chad Bowar praised the album saying, "The Ills of Modern Man is technical, brutal, and most important, memorable."

Track listing

1. "In the Arms of Perdition" (Alexandre Pelletier, Eric Jarrin, Steve Marois) – 4:24
2. "Furtive Monologue" (Jarrin, Marois, Pelletier) – 3:22
3. "Quarantine" (Alexandre Erian, Jarrin) – 4:07
4. "The Ills of Modern Man" (Erian, Jarrin, Pelletier) – 3:50
5. "A Fractured Hand" (Erian, Jarrin) – 4:35
6. "Sheltered Reminiscence" (Jarrin, Marois) – 3:13
7. "Nameless" (Erian, Jarrin) – 3:02
8. "Tears of the Blameless" (Jarrin, Marois, Pelletier) – 4:13
9. "Oval Shaped Incisions" (Erian, Jarrin) – 4:02
10. "Fainted Blue Ornaments" (Erian, Jarrin, Marois) – 5:03

Personnel

Despised Icon

• Alex Erian – vocals
  Singing
  Singing is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...
  
  
• Steve Marois – vocals
• Eric Jarrin – guitar
  Electric guitar
  An electric guitar is a guitar that uses the principle of direct electromagnetic induction to convert vibrations of its metal strings into electric audio signals. The signal generated by an electric guitar is too weak to drive a loudspeaker, so it is amplified before sending it to a loudspeaker...
  
  
• Yannick St-Amand - guitar
• Sebastien Piché – bass
  Bass guitar
  The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
  
  
• Alex Pelletier – drums
  Drum kit
  A drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
  
  

Production

• Produced
  Record producer
  A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
  
   and engineered
  Audio engineering
  An audio engineer, also called audio technician, audio technologist or sound technician, is a specialist in a skilled trade that deals with the use of machinery and equipment for the recording, mixing and reproduction of sounds. The field draws on many artistic and vocational areas, including...
  
   by Yannick St-Amand
• Mastered
  Mastering engineer
  A mastering engineer is one skilled in the practice of taking audio that has been previously mixed in either the analog or digital domain as mono, stereo, or multichannel formats and preparing it for use in distribution, whether by physical media such as a CD, vinyl record, or as some method of...
  
   and mixed
  Mix engineer
  A mix engineer, also referred to as "mixing engineer", is a person who, once all instruments, voices, and sounds, etc., have been recorded, creates what is called the final version of a song, hence the term "mix engineer"...
  
   by Andy Sneap
  Andy Sneap
  Andy "Undie" Sneap is an English record producer, recording engineer, mixer, guitarist, and songwriter. He is best known for producing and mixing many acclaimed heavy metal albums.-Musician:...
  
  
• Artwork by Felix Rancourt