Valkyrian Music

Monstrosity
The Passage of Existence
Released 7th September 2018
Death Metal
Released via Metal Blade Records

It’s been a while since I have reviewed a death metal album. The truth is there has not been too many death metal releases that have caught my attention this year. Monstrosity is a relatively new discovery for me, but their particular brand of death metal is fairly similar to some of the bands I like. For those who are unfamiliar with them, they are an American death metal act based in Florida and they have been a part of the death metal scene since 1990. Oh, and their original line-up included George “Corpsegrinder” Fisher on vocals before he joined Cannibal Corpse.

Death metal has a variety of different styles and sub-categories ranging in pace, technical guitar work and brutality levels. Personally my favourite variety is death metal with a slight thrash metal tinge with some technical but not overly complex guitar work, ideally medium to fast paced and brutal. Luckily for me that is exactly the type of death metal that Monstrosity play.

Kingdom of Fire caught my attention thanks to the unholy brew of the ferocious guitar riffs, trash metal undertones, ferocious growling and aggressive drums. The melodic guitar interlude offers the listener a chance to catch a breath before the next onslaught takes place. In general, this album is very guitar-driven, combining technical rhythm guitar riffs with blast beats for a more refined sound. Maelstrom is a good example of this style. There is just the right amount of variety and technical precision in the guitars to make it sound fresh but not too complex. Also, I have to emphasize the term “technical” as opposed to progressive. I can’t stand anything progressive in metal. Too much guitar masturbation is never a good thing. Luckily there is no danger of that on here.

In summary, ‘The Passage of Existence’ is exactly my kind of death metal. There is not a single song here that I dislike. This is without a doubt my favourite death metal release of the year. Last year I enjoyed the new Immolation and Cannibal Corpse. In 2018 it is all about Monstrosity.

4/5
Iza Raittila

This entry was posted on 27th November 2018 at 12:33 pm and is filed under Uncategorized with tags Death Metal, Monstrosity. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.