500 copies with expanded artwork, chromium cassette, die cut slipcase.
cassette available only through Repulsive Echo Records (Greece) Order today !!! Bust out your Walkman. Very limited edition … these will sell out!!
If you're like me: love 90s Monstrosity and (justifiably) skimmed over or ignored their mediocre 2000s outputs, then read on. I'm not sure I had any expectations here, given the inordinate delay since
Spiritual Apocalypse, but any nagging doubts have been shredded and left for dead by the beastly
The Passage of Existence.
Nothing here is going to surprise anybody familiar with Monstrosity's sound first introduced on 1999's
In Dark Purity; in fact,
The Passage of Existence sounds more a direct descendant of that album than of the two disorganized riff salads that followed it. The foundation again is surgical, tremolo-picked melodic riffs paired expertly with Lee Harrison's expressive, but controlled drumming. Much of the original inspiration for the sound came from Brutality, specifically Jay Fernandez, who had numerous songwriting credits on
In Dark Purity, and his shadow continues to loom large.
The songwriting is impeccable, at once labyrinthine and direct, with ample harmonic flourishes, rhythmic turnarounds and spontaneous bursts of violence that stay one step ahead of predictability (see "Radiated," "The Proselygeist" for excellent examples). When packaged with a weighty production, stout vocals, virtuosic lead guitar and an assertive bass guitar presence, everything feels fresh despite the known commodity that is Monstrosity's brand of American death metal.
Unlike the technicality of
Millennium, which always feels on the verge of dissolution,
The Passage of Existence has a deceptive complexity that relies on shifting iterations to keep the tension high. Although this formula works wonderfully for Monstrosity, it is also my main complaint: at almost 58 minutes, some of the songs and the album begin to feel just a little stretched out, but it's really a minor issue.
I hate the word underrated, and am not going to use it here; instead I'll say these guys deserve all the adulation and praise coming to them for their longevity and unwavering dedication to their craft. Thanks you Lee H. & Co. for proving that Florida death metal still reigns circa 2018.
Sample: youtube.com/watch?v=j2fJpIfjXOY&list=RDj2fJpIfjXOY&start_radio=1&t=103s
