Review by UnhinderedbyTalent for Monstrosity - In Dark Purity (1999)

Monstrosity sort of passed me by in the 90's.  I do not recall that I even heard anything by them until last year when I went through Millenium over a number weeks, purely because I had only just cottoned on to the fact that George 'Corpsegrinder' Fisher started out in the band before he got in Cannibal Corpse.  At the time of releasing In Dark Purity, three years had passed and George was gone having exited the band in late 1995.  Replacement Jason Avery however was more than up to the job and I feel he filled the vocalist vacancy really well.  His vocals bring Cannibal Corpse to mind a lot in all honesty which is ironic.  Any fear of a lull in quality amongst fans of the band, having seen their long standing vocalist defect I would imagine were instantly quashed.  Avery's bellows are just as demented as you like and accompany the horrifying backdrop of the instruments perfectly.

Musically, if you think of the fury of Deicide coupled with the sonic swarms of Morbid Angel, you could pitch In Dark Purity somewhere in between the two.  Tony Norman certainly knew his way around the six strings he had slung around his shoulders, igniting tracks with an Azagthoth-esque sonic intensity whilst at the same time being able to give us a fair share of Hoffman-esque pacing and the riffing rhythm of a Jack Owen or Rob Rusay.  The drumming of Lee Harrison is functional enough without him getting Pete Sandoval in ability at any point.

In Dark Purity is probably one of the most underrated death metal albums from the 90's.  It is an improvement on Millenium, its predecessor, which is no mean feat and one that shows there was a lot more to Monstrosity than just their original vocalist.  Whilst it may not be a lot different to most of what else already came out in the heyday of death metal it is well crafted and agile in its performance.  There are occasional time changes and obscure signatures that herald the opening of a new section or sound that show this was a band with something extra in the tank to keep them slugging it out with the big shots of the scene.  I would not go as far as to describe it as technical death metal but there is certainly some depth to it.