Monstrosity - Spiritual Apocalypse (2007)

Though the two are not quite the same, I'd liken Monstrosity's 5th full-length Spiritual Apocalypse to Deicide's surprising Stench of Redemption from the year prior. Both show a heightened sensibility towards melody and songwriting that establish their acts for a new century, without abandoning the brutal throughput of their history. Spiritual Apocalypse reveals a willingness to explore and grow, while maintaining the characteristics that had to its day marked the band as one of the most potent second stringers in the Florida scene: top notch riffing and lead capabilities, dynamic Lee Harrison drumming, sleek production values, rhythmic variation and enough moments of atmosphere to carry the listener into its aggressive, otherworldly space (the last being the most impressive).

Where Rise to Power was honestly pretty lackluster, Spiritual Apocalypse excels. You won't find yourself chewing your fingernails as you wait patiently for something exciting to happen. Nearly every track is infused with some stylish lead or ear jerking rhythm guitar that remains within the listener's mind, like the subtle and escalating acrobatics of "Apostles of the Endless Night", or the percussive punctuation of guitars and drums that inaugurates "The Inhuman Race". I can't get enough of the leads in "Spiritual Apocalypse" or "Sacred Oblivion"! Mark English, the band's new guitarist as of this album, simply knocks each of them out of the park, accumulating layers of rapture and revelation that cement Spiritual Apocalypse as the most 'musical' of Monstrosity's efforts.

He's not the only fresh blood here: Mike Hrubovcak of Vile steps in to add a more reactive admixture of snarls and growls than his predecessor, the effective yet monotonous Jason Avery. All told, Monstrosity are one of those few bands that can claim to have had three frontmen of note in their ranks, but Hrubovcak manages to honor his predecessors while wonderfully fitting himself into the semi-technical landscape of Harrison, English and bassist Mike Poggione. The mix is great, flush with all the other modern tech and brute death works in the field who actually care about such a thing, and the lyrics and composition are among the best of the band's career. Less snappy or flashy than Millenium, perhaps, but more intricate than In Dark Purity or Rise to Power. If asked to choose a favorite among the band's works, I might give the slight, invisible edge to the debut Imperial Doom, since I enjoy Corpsegrinder and the older atmosphere there, but I can't shake the feeling that they'd finally written its equal. Different, but about equal, and without a doubt one of the best Florida death metal albums of the 21st century to date.

Verdict: Win [8/10] (adorned with devastation)

http://www.monstrosity.us/

Monstrosity - Live Extreme Brazilian: Tour 2002 (2003)

It seems somewhat suspect that Monstrosity would release a live album so soon after their Enslaving the Masses compilation (2001). Was there really a huge demand for such material? Disc 2 of that collection left something to be desired (rather unfairly mixed), but it at least gave a general impression of how the band were experienced on stage. Having seen them, I can attest that they're decent, thus a better sounding live offering might not be unwelcome, but that, my friends, is not Live Extreme Brazilian Tour 2002, not by a long shot. This was released through a small label known as Mutilation, and features a pretty piss poor recording of a handful of Monstrosity tracks that the band were performing in South America.

Seriously, one has to strain to attain any subtleties in the performance. Lee Harrison's drums are strong enough, or at least, mechanical sounding and precise, but the guitar chugging, and that's all you will hear: the chugging, is quite weak. I've heard jam room recordings stronger than this, recorded to single track tape machines. The vocals sound fairly generic, and the bass exists only as a pumping subtext to the monotony of the guitars. The one guitar thing doesn't work out quite so well when the rhythm has to drop for the leads (they've often had two though). Now, it's quite likely that this was in fact a great, exciting set being performed, but that the capture simply wasn't very good. The set here is rather short, about a half hour and eight tracks, two of which are Slayer covers ("Angel of Death" and "Raining Blood", about as generic as you could get, though Monstrosity do decent renditions on principle).

As for their original offerings, you get three from the Corpsegrinder fronted albums Imperial Doom (the title track, "Final Cremation") and Millenium ("Fatal Millenium"); the rest are all from their most recent, In Dark Purity ("Destroying Divinity", "Dust to Dust", and "The Angel Venom"). Not a terrible selection for so brief a set, but nevertheless underwhelming if you were to compare it to any of the more substantial alternatives you could purchase. Perhaps if they'd placed a few separate, complete sets here across 2-3 discs, with some variation in the track lists, then it would be a better bargain, but if the sound were this mediocre in general then that would become even more of a drag. Even if Live Extreme Brazilian Tour 2002 is not an official bootleg, it should be treated as such, because that's what it sounds like, and the limited pressing of this is really no impetus to check it out unless you're the most financially liberal collectors.

Verdict: Fail [3.25/10]

http://www.monstrosity.us/

Monstrosity - Rise to Power (2003)

Rise to Power is the fourth Monstrosity album overall, the second and last with Jason Avery filling the vocal position, and it's also the most indistinct. Never a band on the edge of anything, they have long felt like some crossbreeding grounds for their Florida peers. Capable of the speed and precision of Morbid Angel's finer heights, the punch of a Deicide, and the carnal riffing of a Cannibal Corpse, they can turn tempos on a dime and each member contributes the necessarily level of required execution and proficiency. Whether you're in death metal for the grooves and breakdowns, or the fits of manic acceleration, this is a band with your back. Why then, with all of these things going for it, does Rise to Power fall behind their prior outings?

Well, it's pretty much your stock 'modern' death metal of the 21st century to date. Cognizant of its influences and the band's own legacy, energetic and thunderous, and without a single damned song worth remembering after the fact! If you turned down the speed dial on Hate Eternal's first few albums, and marginally weakened the riffs, it would probably sound a lot like this. In their defense, they were packing a pair of new guitar players since In Dark Purity: Tony Norman and Sam Molina, and despite this they do manage to create an aggressive, intense architecture through "The Exordium" and "Awaiting Armageddon". A few of the riffs feel mildly innovative, or putting to use more than just the band's speed and brutality, but I felt as if I were some party disinterested in gymnastics, forced to watch the acrobatic competitions at the Olympics. The guitars, as dynamic and terse as they appear, never manifest in patterns of revelation. This is fairly soulless death metal, with zero malignant undercurrent, and no amount of Lee Harrison's hammering skill or Jason Avery's monotonous, brutal drawl are able to rescue it.

It's a shame, honestly, because its fairly close to In Dark Purity in identity, but so far from the Corpsegrinder years in terms of an album you'll want to break out repeatedly. The production here is brick solid, and the instruments managed incredibly well, but there's not enough of the spastic indulgence of the modern California scene, or the strong songwriting out of Poland. In fact, Monstrosity's fourth album is just another pointer on how the mighty have fallen, how the Florida titans and their hangers-on had been diminishing in value for some time, unable to match the pinnacles of novelty and achievement that marked the late 80s and early 90s. Rise to Power is no slouch, and a few of the tunes provide 'in the moment' excitement, like "A Casket for the Soul" or "Abysmal Gods", but even these peter out into insignificance as solid riffs are backed by trackless filler, writhing grooves betrayed by vapid blast-offs. There's some variation to be had, but not much value.

Verdict: Indifference [6.5/10] (your very soul devolves)

http://www.monstrosity.us/

Monstrosity - Enslaving the Masses (2001)

Though the band had only been three studio albums deep when it was released, and might have been better off waiting for more odds and ends to accumulate before unleashing it, Enslaving the Masses is at least the sort of Floridian death fan package which doesn't feel like some greedy ex-retiree banker somewhere in the 'Glades is laughing his hairpiece off at the purchaser. Manifest through indie imprint Conquest, who Monstrosity will remain with for some years, the collection gathers a few objects of desire that the rabid fan or completist would probably want to get his/her hands upon, in addition to a few that really don't matter one way or the other.

There are two discs here, the first of which contains various studio rarities from the band's early history. The most important of these are the Horror Infinity (1991) and Slaves and Masters (1994) demos which feature George 'Corpsegrinder' Fisher in the vocal booth. Granted, all of the tracks from both were re-recorded for their respective albums (Horror Infinity material wound up on Imperial Doom; Slaves and Masters on Millenium), but as usual it's nice to own original versions if you're into the more rugged sounds. Both of them fare well enough, though they pale in comparison to the studio full-length versions. Rounding out this disc, also, are five alternative mixes from the Imperial Doom sessions: "Imperial Doom" itself, "Ceremonial Void", "Vicious Mental Thirst", "Final Cremation" and "Darkest Dream". These actually sound decent, a step in quality above the demos, but not enough to supplant the previously released incarnations.

As for the second disc, it consists of 13 live tracks culled from various dates in the South (Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee, etc), with the band's newer vocalist Jason Avery. Having seen the band during this period, I can attest to their tight level of brutal execution in this venue, but I can't vouch for the sound of these recordings. The rhythm guitars are rather repressed in the mix, which is sad since they stand alongside the drums as the band's main feature. The leads are a bit louder, and the vocals and drums are balanced well, but the rhythms and bass are largely buried, so it's not that consistent of an experience. As for material, it's pretty heavily in favor of their third album In Dark Purity, which makes sense with Avery on board: "The Angels Venom", "Perpetual War", "Hymns of Tragedy", and of course their cover of Slayer's "Angel of Death" which was a staple for them, revving the crowds up. However, they do throw a few older tunes in like "Horror Infinity" and "Imperial Doom" to round it off, and Avery handles them efficiently.

So, in all, you're not really getting anything impressive here or that you couldn't already find in a superior format throughout the previous Monstrosity full-lengths, but at least it helps you collect the demos on a CD. I might have preferred that they include their two singles here as opposed to the alternate studio mixes, but then, the contents of those are just as redundant as what wound up on the final product. Also, the live material definitely leaves much to be desired. Enslaving the Masses is not necessarily worth the money unless you can snap it up dirt cheap or you insist on having everything the band releases (including bids for their underwear on eBay), but rest assured that its not complete ripoff dreck like some of the label-spun schemes out there. Of course, if you don't already own their full-lengths, then any one of them would prove a more suitable return for your investment.

Verdict: Indifference [5.25/10]

http://www.monstrosity.us/

Monstrosity - In Dark Purity (1999)

Having had the Corpse wagon arrive and wheel away George Fisher to ghastlier and richer pastures, Monstrosity were forced to put up or shut up. They chose the former, acquiring the maniacal Jason Avery for their new front man, and proceeded to pen a more balanced attack than their sophomore Millenium. Avery’s got a standard, blunt tone very reminiscent of the Corpsegrinder, without the snarls that George will occasionally weave into the percussion of his voice, but any lack of variation in the gutturals is recompensed through the dynamic musical palette.

In Darkest Purity can be just as fast as its predecessor when it needs to, but the songs are even more thoughtful and widespread without losing the characteristics of intense double bass via Lee Harrison, or surgical riffing techniques that were competitive with the very best in the genre, if not quite so distinct or memorable. A few of my favorites include “Suffering to the Conquered”, one of the most beautiful Monstrosity efforts in their history, graceful spires of dual melodies writhing through the intro and verses, especially that ascending stream of mutes after the :50 mark. The leads in this song are particularly good, mirroring its somber and elegant aesthetic.

Elsewhere, there are a few prime technical death/thrashers not unlike the finer points of the sophomore album. I speak of “Destroying Divinity” and its robust, razor sharpness, the resonance of Avery’s grunts cast above the merciless landscape like hellish nets. Or “Dust to Dust”, a straight burst of speed limit breaking enhanced by the cymbal crashes and almost exotic melodies immersed in the central rhythm. “Shapeless Domination”, “Embraced by Apathy” and the instrumental “The Pillars of Drear” are also highlights, though the rest of the album is give or take, with a mix of slower chugging pieces and primal bursts redolent of what Cannibal Corpse were writing with their newly acquired link to this entity.

The production is highly polished, all notes cleanly executed and the various instruments balanced off well against Avery’s apocryphal bludgeoning, and perhaps In Darkest Purity might be regarded as one of the prototypes for the new wave of technical, young USDM acts of the 21st century who followed suit. The lyrics are again decent, a near constant characteristic of Monstrosity, but the cover art to this album is nearly as awful as the sophomore. Minor gripes aside, this is a functional effort which proves life after Fisher, and still feels fresh to date, even if its not their most memorable work.

Verdict: Win [7.25/10]

http://www.monstrosity.us/

Monstrosity - Millenium (1996)

It's a shame that Millenium is such a godawful eyesore of a thing, because the level of acrobatic elegance on display here is enough to send pacemakers spiraling out of function and the rest of us back to musical school to figure out what's wrong with us, why our limbs cannot move in such frenzied configurations. That's not to say it is necessarily the band's peak performance, as it sacrifices a bit of the focused old school intensity of Imperial Doom for a more technical, flashy interface, but it's very much worth checking out if you're a fan of the more proficient Cannibal Corpse records with George Corpsegrinder at the helm (think of it as the spiritual precursor to Bloodthirst or KILL, only with more inherent velocity).

Certainly, this has the highest ratio of intensity throughout the surviving Monstrosity catalog, almost as if you took the spastic thrash of Vio-Lence or other Bay Area staples and placed it in a grislier context with guttural vocals. Songs like "Fatal Millenium" and "Manic" are loaded with eye popping rhythms, the former being my singular favorite song from this band, an accelerated storm of quality tech death riffs intent on leaving the remainder of the death metal universe in the dust. Despite this impulse, the track is surprisingly varied, slowing to mid-pace for a few concrete crushers, like wading through a violent storm to finally find the eye. "Devious Instinct" is another memorable piece with crazy drums and trills not unlike something off The Bleeding, only far faster. Other psychotic extractions include "Mirrors of Reason", "Manipulation Strain", and "Stormwinds".

Not all that glitters is gold here. Where Monstrosity decide to slow the pace to a steady mosh crawl ("Fragments of Resolution"), they come up a little short in quality. Others, like "Dream Messiah" and "Seize of Change" each have worthwhile thrashing bridges, but little else of note. I was on the fence with "Slaves & Masters", a decent technical exercise with a bridge not unlike Bolt Thrower. There's a lot of traffic happening in the guitar department, crisp and punchy, and Jason Morgan has turned in quite a performance, but not all of the vehicles make it to their destinations. Fisher gives an adequate, percussive dimension to the music, but often his presence becomes monotonous and all is left up to the guitars and drums to entertain. Scott Burns draws out a lot of clarity from the instruments, essential when so much is happening, even if is not a lot of charisma to the mix.

That said, this is a strong sophomore, certainly with more proficiency than Imperial Doom if not the same lasting impact. The lyrics are good, even if the cover is ugly as sin (gotta love the formative years of computer graphical misery). Millenium is not as powerful as some of the amazing records George would front when joining Cannibal Corpse (Gallery of Bleeding, Bloodthirst, Evisceration Plague, etc), and coincidentally this was his last album with Monstrosity before jumping ship for gorier pastures; but I'd recommend this to fans of the burgeoning, technical death outbreaks of the 90s like Suffocation and Crytopsy, or those seeking the rampant, viral speed of Morbid Angel.

Verdict: Win [7.5/10] (in the trenches of corruption)

http://www.monstrosity.us/

Monstrosity - Imperial Doom (1992)

As much as I do enjoy their debut Imperial Doom, I've got to admit that Monstrosity were one of the first Florida death metal artists to come along without a distinct identity unto themselves. Formed in 1990, several years after many of their peers were assembled, the sound on offer here was a middle ground between Morbid Angel, Deicide, Malevolent Creation and Nocturnus, with perhaps a sliver of overseas influence via Pestilence. That said, what they might have lacked in originality they would compensate for with tight writing, technical ability, intriguing Dan Seagrave cover art, and a professional mix courtesy of Tom Morris at Morrisound. While this is certainly not the most memorable efforts in the genre's formative years, it holds up rather well in comparison to much of this band's discography.

Yes, this was the album that would introduce us to the blunt and brutal vocals of 'Corpsegrinder', George Fisher, who would go on to much larger success replacing Chris Barnes in Cannibal Corpse. You get a pretty good idea of his percussive, battering ram style here, set perfectly against the instruments, but the real spotlight falls upon the work of guitarists Jason Gobel and John Rubin; and the thundering footwork of Lee Harrison, yet another drummer to prove he could run alongside the bigger names (Lombardo, Hoglan, Sandoval). The riffs here, while often lacking immortal or amazing patterns, are constantly churning and broiling along with a good deal of choppy variation and skill, to provide the audience with 35 minutes of entertainment that would undoubtedly thrill fans of Blessed Are the Sick, Legion, and The Key, not to mention the then budding Cannibal Corpse themselves, who were in effect quite cruder than what is on display through this debut.

Imperial Doom does lack for some of the character that most of the other Florida bands were exuding through individual tracks. There is no "Body Bag", "Chapel of Ghouls", "Pull the Plug" or anything like that, but it's incredibly consistent, and the band instantly goes for the throat to prove what they're all about, with a title track that scales from a bull rush of an intro to a furious blast beat broken down into winding, juggernaut rhythms and later a slower, morbid drawl. They continue to pace themselves well through "Definitive Inquisition", "Immense Malignancy" and "Vicious Mental Thirst", all of which exhibit considerable effort, taut and effective leads and a literal barrage of what could then be considered technical structure. There is often a primitive, underlying pattern of start/stop which doesn't always create worthy transitions as the band are storming from one of the myriad guitar patterns to the next, but I can't think of a full moment here which evokes anything resembling exhaustion or ennui.

In fact, though I've enjoyed a few of their albums since this one, I would have to hold this as the pinnacle of quality and functionality throughout their career. Corpsegrinder has put out some better performances through Cannibal Corpse, but I did prefer his style to Monstrosity's later front men like Jason Avery (not that they were at all ineffective). Imperial Doom is not a first rate offering, but it stands alongside Malevolent Creation's The Ten Commandments as one of the more reliable second stringers of the period, losing little to none of its aggression and abrasion throughout the decades since. Concentrated, concise brutality with well spun lyrics, this was certainly a rock solid addition to Nuclear Blast's early catalog, and a band that could have easily competed in the big leagues with some slightly more memorable songwriting.

Verdict: Win [8/10] (living and dying is one in the same)

http://www.monstrosity.us/