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Rating:
Let's take a plunge into the past and reach 1992.
In this year, the Brutal Death Metal movement definitively developed with masterpieces like 'Effigy Of The Forgotten' by Suffocation and 'Butchered At Birth' by Cannibal Corpse. Then there were many Death Metal bands that came very close to Brutal, like Monstrosity.
This band is known to many because, precisely in these years, it featured George "CorpseGrinder" Fisher, who would later leave the band to sing with Cannibal Corpse. Monstrosity was never a band that received much consideration, but they produced masterpieces like this 'Imperial Doom'. The album opens with a scream from George, just as it will happen in all the Cannibal Corpse CDs when the singer joins them. The band's offering is a Death Metal in the style of Morbid Angel but influenced by Brutal, just think of the "primordial" blast beats of the drummer and some characteristic slowdowns. However, you can't call it Brutal Death, because the band is clearly inspired by the Death/Thrash rhythms of bands of that time. Objectively 'Imperial Doom' is an excellent album, with good breaks, fantastic solos, and Fisher's legendary voice, with a "raw" growl but angry that completely matches the album's soundscape.
The songs, which deal with the genre's classic themes, are well-structured and played, with extensive use of distortion and melody in some solos. Fisher sometimes screams, sometimes gargles in a very low tone. The CD has a strong sonic impact, due to, besides Fisher's voice, the insistent bass and drum rhythms, and the scratching riffs of the guitarists. 10 tracks that have much in common but differentiate from one another. The themes addressed, more than splattery and cadaverous, are more focused on apocalyptic, dark, and "satanic" texts, as Death Metal tradition demands. From this, one can deduce that Monstrosity is just another Death Metal band, but unfortunately, they never achieved much success or recognition and remain for many "The old band of the Cannibal singer."
I believe this band deserves a chance, especially for releasing this album, important for the history of Death Metal.
Tracklist Lyrics Samples and Videos
03 Ceremonial Void (03:59)
[Lyrics: L. Harrison; music: Monstrosity]
Deranged thoughts, a twisted mind
I've imagined a vision of burning Christ
Arranged, pre-ordained
Wisdom of the insane
Infliction inherent, Life deemed estranged
Reality transparent, normalcy in vain
Memory converted, A ministry ingrained
Tribulation for your sins, your mind is now enslaved
Hateful lies
known as promises
brainwashed minds
scarred as evidence
incoherent, to realities [misspelled as "realitys" in CD liner notes] denied
Frenzied thinking, delusions soon confied
Fallacy enraged, by the ways of law
This dominance controls with time !
Calculated doom
of your impurities [misspelled as "impuritys" in CD liner notes]
Saturation
of this sickness
A Vicious Mental Thirst !
Craving such insanity
You yearn to quell this hunger
Hateful lies
known as promises
brainwashed minds
scarred as evidence
Disciples, yet their minds cannot decide
Inbred [misprinted as "Imbredded" in CD liner notes] by a faith that soon
divides
Addiction, your [=you're] engulfed, by the ways of God
His dominance controls your mind !
A Vicious Mental Thirst !
Craving such insanity
You yearn to quell this hunger
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