### Monstrosity: In dark purity

#### 08/02/12 || InquisitorGeneralis

##### Introduction

Listen to this. Pretty fucking awesome huh? You’re goddamn right it is. Now let’s talk about that shit.

Not too long ago, we had some issues here at the Global Domination office concerning what was metal. Here’s my two cents; Monstrosity is fucking metal… and both of the awesome songs from that clip are from “In Dark Purity”. Natalie Merchant, Cutting Crew, and Mike and the Mechanics are not metal. They are cockpuke. With that out of the way, let’s talk about a monster (get it?) of an album from one of South Florida’s, and the entire United States in general, best death metal bands. My fellow staffers have already praised the sexcellence of many Monstrosity albums; mighty ex-staffer Kampfar, who has long disappeared into the forests he presides over in Norwary, gave Class6(66) treatment to the Corpsegrinder-fronted Millenium, my bromantic soul brother Daemonomania underwent a Spiritual TuPacalypse not too long ago, and even the almost-impossible-to-please Lord K himself dealing with the impossible-not-to-be-a-douche Mike Poggione gave good marks to the crushing Rise to Power. “In Dark Penises” comes right before those two winners and is no slouch itself. It is one solid slab of pummeling death metal with just enough hints of melody and technicality to keeps things fresh and ripe like a rotting angel’s corpse. Plus, it is always results in serious bromance between me and Misery Index drummer Adam Jarvis when we hang out, drink beer, and threaten to kill each other. METAL!

##### Songwriting

9. Monstrosity, courtesy of main songwriter Lee Harrison, always gives you a nice mix of speeds and style on its albums. “In Dark Purity” is no exception. “Perpetual war” is a mid-paced crusher that always induces headbanging and slam dancing from me whenever it is heard. “Hymns of tragedy” has a similar style and effect on my cranium. “The angel’s venom” ups the blastfactor a bit and shows Monstrosity know how to bring brutality along with with the smooth groove. Some of the songs on here are a little short, but not every song needs to be Opeth-like in its length. “Dust to dust” is brutal to brutal. The title track is my personal favorite though; an evil and pummeling riff over top of double-bass always wins in my book. The big breakdown at the end is ace also. While I tend to shy away from the shorter tunes on here like “Destroying divinity”, a high level of quality is consistent throughout. The cover of “Angel of Death” is amazing too, but Slayer wrote that.

##### Production

8. The sound on here is a bit muffled, but certainly still pretty fucking good. Their earlier albums don’t sound as good. Their later albums sound better. And that’s fucken that.

##### Guitars

9. Monstrosity know how to write an evil riff or two… thousand. “In Dark Purity” is loaded with them. The one that kicks in at the start of the title track is a beast, just like the dick-tickler that opens up “Hymns of tragedy”. Sparky Voyles of Dying Fetus and Misery Index fame told me that Lee Harrison is responsible for a large bit of the guitar awesomeness on Monstrosity albums, which makes sense looking at the revolving cast of guitarists they have had. Whoever wrote them, whoever played them, the guitar work on here is nasty.

##### Bass

9. Kelly Conlon, who played on the ultimate death metal album ever does an excellent job here. He and Lee Harrison make an excellent rythem section that stands up there with any other in the Florida death metal game.

##### Vocals

9. Jason Avery is the best vocalist Monstrosity have had, and I’m including you know who. I was tempted to give Mr. Avery a perfect score here, because his deep, guttural growls are fanfuckentastic. When he lets loose In dark PPPPPPUUUUUURRRRRRRIIIIITTTTTYYYYYYY I get an in dark chubby. You know a death metal vocalist is solid when they don’t mix things up much and you still enjoy them all the way through an album. Count Avery’s performance here as one of those.

##### Drums

9. Lee Harrison is an underrated drummer who never gets the credit he deserves. Besides some oddly timed and placed crash hits, his performance on “in Dark Purity” is fucking ace. Crisp kicks, cool grooves, and brutal blasts make Harrison the real deal. Let’s put it this way, every person to whom I have ever played “In dark purity” or “The angels venom” has told me the drumming is sick. Sick like Eddie Mercury licking Father Damien’s back sick.

##### Lyrics

9.5. Monstrosity know how to cover the metal basics (war, death, hatin’ on Jesus, etc etc) without using lyrics that get too cheesy or corny. It is clear these guys have no love for the Nazarene, but songs like “Pereptual war” convey those feelings in a much more interesting, less “satanic goatfucking” way.

##### Logo

7. Classic and recognizable, but nothing too impressive. I give these guys credit for keeping the logo the same though after multiple line-up changes and over twenty years in the death metal hustle.

##### Cover

8. Take that good Angel! A little campy but still cool, the cover here does it’s job telling you that the band is evil and no fan of religion.

##### Booklet

N/A Lost in an ancient, oncoming storm. I don’t have it.

##### Overall and Ending Rant

“In Dark Purity” is a top-notch, death metal album. There Floridian fiends never get the credit they deserve for combining old-school brutality with more melodic, skilled guitar work and technical songwriting. It is hard for me to say which album of theirs I like the best. But “In Dark Purity” is certainly a serious contender. The title tack, “Perpetual war”, “Hymns of tragedy”, and “The angels venom” are all some of the band’s absolute best and most memorable tracks. Avery’s vocals are excellent and the band mixes up grooves, blasts, and finger-banging solos with ease. I recommend this for any fan of the classic American style of ze metal ov death like Deicide, Obituary, Death, and Malevolent Creation. Fuck, fans of newer bands from the other side of the pond like My Own Grave and Spawn of Possession will definitely get down with “In Dark Purity”. It’s the tits, tits.

- Information
- Released: 1999
- Label: Olympic
- Website: www.monstrosity.us
- Band
- Jason Avery: vocals
- Tony Norman: guitar
- Jason Morgan: guitar
- Kelly Conlon: bass
- Lee Harrison: drums

- Tracklist
- 01. The Hunt
- 02. Destroying Divinity
- 03. Shapeless Domination
- 04. The Angels Venom
- 05. All Souls Consumed
- 06. Dust to Dust
- 07. Suffering to the Conquered
- 08. The Eye of Judgement
- 09. Perpetual War
- 10. Embraced by Apathy
- 11. Hymns of Tragedy
- 12. In Dark Purity
- 13. The Pillars of Drear
- 14. Angel of Death (Slayer cover)