Millennium

Monstrosity is mostly remembered by the connections it has with other influential death metal bands, most notably through original vocalist George ‘Corpsegrinder’ Fisher, who would later join Cannibal Corpse. Because of this, it is often overlooked how good their albums tend to be. Monstrosity was one of the better proggy death metal bands of its era and ‘Millennium’ is arguably their best work. In fact, the album contains some of the best compositions the Floridian death metal scene has ever brought forth. For the amount of things happening within Monstrosity’s aggressive music, their songs never become overbearing and remain surprisingly listenable.

One of the reasons why ‘Millennium’ is so good is because it so clearly predates many of the flaws of the current death metal scene. It could be argued that the music is a precursor to technical death metal, but the riffs are memorable, almost catchy, without exception. The tempos are generally high, but the songs never devolve into exhausting hyperspeed blasting with no breathing room, and the thrash roots of the genre can still be heard in the riff work. In fact, I would almost describe this as what Forbidden would have sounded like if they were a Floridian death metal band.

Despite drummer Lee Harrison being one of the main songwriters in Monstrosity, the music on ‘Millennium’ is riff-based first and foremost. Unlike many bands that were on the more technical side of the death metal spectrum at the time, however, Monstrosity’s music doesn’t just sound like a handful of riffs semi-randomly thrown together. Harrison and guitarist Jason Morgan have a very keen sense of what a song needs to build up a maximum amount of tension, while even the fastest riffs have something resembling a hook without getting close to pushing the band into melodic death metal territory.

While every song on ‘Millennium’ is worth hearing, the album is at its best when the band switches up gears. ‘Mirrors of Reason’, for instance, is packed with subtle, but impactful tempo changes, ‘Stormwinds’ builds brilliant upper mid-tempo riff upon upper brilliant mid-tempo riff, and ‘Dream Messiah’ varies time feels very effectively. The dark, almost sludgy ‘Fragments of Resolution’ is a stand-out, though it does feel like it should have gone on for two more minutes in order to fully develop. Faster rippers like ‘Slaves and Masters’, ‘Manic’ and the excellent opener ‘Fatal Millennium’ are every bit as good, but work extra well because of how well-thought-out the dynamics on the album are.

And yet, nothing feels forced or convoluted. Ultimately, that would be Monstrosity’s biggest strength – in general, but on ‘Millennium’ in particular. They can come up with fairly complex songs, but deliver them in a way that almost feels effortless. In its forty minutes of playing time, ‘Millennium’ throws a multitude of intricate riffs at the listener at a generally fairly high tempo, but listening to it is never a chore. The powerful, bottom-heavy Scott Burns production definitely helps that, but it all starts with the excellent compositions and musicians that know how not to get in each other’s way.

Recommended tracks: ‘Mirrors of Reason’, ‘Dream Messiah’, ‘Fatal Millennium’, ‘Stormwinds’

Originally written for my Kevy Metal weblog

The punch no. 2 from Monstrosity was released 4 years after the release of "Imperial Doom" and brought Lee Harrison's band some line-up changes. Fortunately, these did not come into lower level or searching the "new face". With the appearance of guitarist Jason Morgan and bassist Kelly Conlon on "Millennium", the band managed to go into death metal closer to the sounds of Cannibal Corpse (which should not be surprising - Corpsegrinder was already a part of that band at that time), and with thus they managed not to delude themselves with these influences, so that it would be difficult to define Monstrosity as strictly impersonating the group of Mazurkiewicz and Webster. Finally, "Millennium" was quickly labeled as a classic, despite a few solutions that quite not similar to "Imperial..." or the trashy cover.

Of course, the cult status did not come out of nowhere, although in my opinion "Millennium" is not a cd that beats the debut. Both albums have their advantages (some disadvantages too), but both have advantages in very different ways, which finally equates them together. So, Monstrosity's music is still at very high level, though with a distinctly different feeling and slightly modified patents. On the plus side, "Millennium" can certainly include a more professional production with more "lows", increased brutality (especially from the blasting side), Corpsegrinder vocals, better solos and successful quotes from Cannibal Corpse (I mean more catchy paces). On the downside, bass seems to be weaker (exception: "Seize Of Change" where Kelly went crazy), it also lacks as much madness as on "Imperial..." - fortunately, that's all from this aspects. The band improves here with catchiness and the aforementioned brutality, and by songs as "Slaves And Masters", "Manic", "Manipulation Strain", "Fragments Of Resolution" (this one is much more subdued) or "Devious Instinct" their music is more memorable and show a slightly different "face" from their debut - so you can feel a certain dose of freshness.

Despite the departure into less turbulent death metal, the Americans from Monstrosity could show themselves from an interesting side in such a slightly simplified style and managed to record the material at a very high level as before. What's more, by "Millennium" Harrison's band made a lot more hype than earlier and gained more successful.

Originally on: https://subiektywnymetal.blogspot.com/2022/02/monstrosity-millennium-1996.html

After four years of writing, Monstrosity finally unleashed their second full-length, "Millennium." Over these four years, the band went through strenuous lineup changes that resulted in both a completely new guitarist and bassist, the only founding members being drummer Lee Harrison and vocalist George "Corpsegrinder" Fisher. With the new lineup in position, Monstrosity's sound changed from their old school death metal (OSDM) sound to an extremely technical hurricane of notes. At the time, Cryptopsy was just releasing "None so Vile" and Cannibal Corpse was going technical with "Vile," another Corpsegrinder album. In other words, technical death metal was not a defined genre at this time. In fact, brutal death metal was hardly a defined death metal genre. The vast majority of technical death metal acts of this time were brutal/technical death metal, making Monstrosity's "Millennium" a landmark in defining technical death metal as a standalone genre.

Known for its outstanding musicianship, "Millennium" is considered a classic among those who have a knack for old school technical death metal. With acts like Polluted Inheritance, Pavor, and Martyr taing on a more Atheist approach to technical death metal, it was nice to see a band incorporate a more technical sound to an OSDM sound. All of the aforementioned bands specialized in a very complex style of death metal that surpassed that of Suffocation and even Cryptopsy. Sometimes, it became so complex, that it spiraled into nonsense. Monstrosity gave technical death metal a softer, more simplistic sound that was easier on the ears.

As Monstrosity run through thousands of notes, it can be hard to pick out certain riffs that are enjoyable. However, after multiple listens, one becomes familiar with the album, right? The fierce complexity and jumpiness of "Manic" perfectly showcases what this album is about: technical precision that doesn't sacrifice the original grooves of death metal. This groove is seen in "Manic," but it is best seen in "Fragments of Resolution," one of the slower tracks on the album. This song grooves along as almost breakdown speed, yet it still shows technical prowess and stamina. One cannot just listen to this album once in order to notice all of this. I only noticed most of this on my fifth or sixth listen.

Another thing that I love about this album is its structure.  Monstrosity has never been a band to release an unbalanced album. They always spread out their best songs throughout the entirety of the album. For instance, a few of the best songs are on the second half, "Seize of Change" being a very strong finisher to the album with excellent bass leads. With this in mind, the album has songs that hook the listener into listening to it, a slow, groovy interlude that is "Fragments of Resolution," and a strong second half. It is extremely important for an album to have a strong second half, as that is the listener's final impression of the album.

Production-wise, this album is crystal clear. Surprisingly, it isn't as clear as "Imperial Doom," but it's still clear enough to hear every note, which is nice since there are a lot of them.  Scott Burns, the mastermind producer that worked with Death, Deicide, Vital Remains, Cannibal Corpse, Cynic, Sepultura, Pestilence, Coroner, and many more produced this album in all of its glory.  Like Jim Morris, Burns worked for Morrisound Studios in Tampa, Florida.

This album is definitely a highlight in the area of technical death metal, and it's definitely one of the best releases in the genre. That is to be expected, especially as it is one of the first of its kind, helping spawn bands like Anata and Neuraxis a few years later. Unfortunately, this was Corpsegrinder's last album with Monstrosity as he had joined Cannibal Corpse earlier that year, and he intended to stick with them instead. After such a successful album, the members of Monstrosity were left with a choice: get a new vocalist or retire with no money?

On a side note, this album cover is actual garbage.  I don't think I have to argue this.

Overall Rating: 96%

Originally written for themetalvoid.wordpress.com

The Guilty Party

Monstrosity are a technical death metal band hailing from Florida. They were formed in 1990 by George Fisher, later of Cannibal Corpse fame, and drummer Lee Harrison. They were then joined by guitarist Jon Rubin and bassist Mark Van Erp. The band achieved a little success and critical acclaim with the release of their first studio album, entitled Imperial Doom. Critics praised their dense sound that involved lots of complex riffing and creative drum patterns and the energetic vocal patterns of George Fisher. Not many bands could hope to release a debut album that sounded as complete as that particular one. The band makes good use of quick jumps between tremolo picking and hyper-fast power chord based riffing and the occasional pinch harmonic scattered throughout. The drumming is a mixture of thrash beats and blast beats with some neat fills thrown in for added effect, whilst the bass mainly follows the guitar's schizophrenic nature. George's vocals are delivered in a rapid fire manner and also use the high pitched lengthy screams that he would abuse on his Cannibal Corpse material. He utilizes the ridiculously low pitches he was hitting on Cannibal Corpse's first few albums that featured him, and this could not be better suited to any band than Monstrosity. This mixture of members of the band each with high degrees of technical proficiency would form the base for their finest accomplishment, Millennium.


What Was Good About Millennium

Millennium was released in August 1996 on the Nuclear Blast label. This is an album that not only retains the insanely technical nature of their previous album but eclipses it with some even quicker riffing and more diverse styles of playing. The songs are structured considerably better with the constant changes of riff ensuring that the songs are evolving incessantly. One of the most incredible things about this release was that the guitar work was only crafted by one guitarist instead of the two that is considered the norm for extreme music. Jason Morgan handles the guitars on Millennium and he does so with some real talent behind it. His solos are absolutely incredible and feature a good mixture of techniques including sweeping and the incredibly fast shredding that bands such as Suffocation use. The riffing here jumps between chords and single note picking with a lot of gusto and this is a band that can even make the most generic of tremolo picked lines sound interesting due to an incredible production job that ensures the guitars sound as crisp and aggressive as possible. The drumming is as varied as one could ask, with the slower paced Fragments Of Resolution showing off a great amount of creativity that shows even the slowest moments of a death metal album can be kept interesting. The vocals are the gut-churning roar that George Fisher has become known for over the years. He delivers every vocal line with as much conviction as could be asked for, throwing forth lines of pure evil with savage and evil-sounding tones. Each member of the band is on top of their game here, delivering an incredible experience. The album grabs you by the throat from the opening moments and does not let go all the way through. The introduction to Fatal Millennium should say all that needs to be said about this release. The drums jump between thrash beats and blast beats seamlessly whilst the guitars are written perfectly, weaving in and out of the drum patterns. This is not an album that should be taken lightly.


What Was Not So Good About Millennium

The one thing that irks me about this album is that the bass is not as loud in the mix as it should have been. It is still audible but not as loud as it was on their debut. The bassist puts in a phenomenal performance that deserves more than to just be there buried in the wall of sound the rest of the band creates. Another criticism that could be leveled at this album is that George Fisher mainly sticks to the same high note and the same low note with every scream. Whilst this acts as a positive in that it gives the band an angry voice, it also detracts the sense of variety and wonder that is garnered from hearing the instrumental performance from the rest of the band.

Verdict

Overall, Millennium is an album that anyone who is a fan of technical death metal that recalls an old-school vibe should check out. It packs one hell of a punch with the interesting nature of its riff work and has more than enough variety in it to keep you interested.

It's a shame that Millenium is such a godawful eyesore of a thing, because the level of acrobatic elegance on display here is enough to send pacemakers spiraling out of function and the rest of us back to musical school to figure out what's wrong with us, why our limbs cannot move in such frenzied configurations. That's not to say it is necessarily the band's peak performance, as it sacrifices a bit of the focused old school intensity of Imperial Doom for a more technical, flashy interface, but it's very much worth checking out if you're a fan of the more proficient Cannibal Corpse records with George Corpsegrinder at the helm (think of it as the spiritual precursor to Bloodthirst or KILL, only with more inherent velocity).

Certainly, this has the highest ratio of intensity throughout the surviving Monstrosity catalog, almost as if you took the spastic thrash of Vio-Lence or other Bay Area staples and placed it in a grislier context with guttural vocals. Songs like "Fatal Millenium" and "Manic" are loaded with eye popping rhythms, the former being my singular favorite song from this band, an accelerated storm of quality tech death riffs intent on leaving the remainder of the death metal universe in the dust. Despite this impulse, the track is surprisingly varied, slowing to mid-pace for a few concrete crushers, like wading through a violent storm to finally find the eye. "Devious Instinct" is another memorable piece with crazy drums and trills not unlike something off The Bleeding, only far faster. Other psychotic extractions include "Mirrors of Reason", "Manipulation Strain", and "Stormwinds".

Not all that glitters is gold here. Where Monstrosity decide to slow the pace to a steady mosh crawl ("Fragments of Resolution"), they come up a little short in quality. Others, like "Dream Messiah" and "Seize of Change" each have worthwhile thrashing bridges, but little else of note. I was on the fence with "Slaves & Masters", a decent technical exercise with a bridge not unlike Bolt Thrower. There's a lot of traffic happening in the guitar department, crisp and punchy, and Jason Morgan has turned in quite a performance, but not all of the vehicles make it to their destinations. Fisher gives an adequate, percussive dimension to the music, but often his presence becomes monotonous and all is left up to the guitars and drums to entertain. Scott Burns draws out a lot of clarity from the instruments, essential when so much is happening, even if is not a lot of charisma to the mix.

That said, this is a strong sophomore, certainly with more proficiency than Imperial Doom if not the same lasting impact. The lyrics are good, even if the cover is ugly as sin (gotta love the formative years of computer graphical misery). Millenium is not as powerful as some of the amazing records George would front when joining Cannibal Corpse (Gallery of Bleeding, Bloodthirst, Evisceration Plague, etc), and coincidentally this was his last album with Monstrosity before jumping ship for gorier pastures; but I'd recommend this to fans of the burgeoning, technical death outbreaks of the 90s like Suffocation and Crytopsy, or those seeking the rampant, viral speed of Morbid Angel.

-autothrall
http://www.fromthedustreturned.com

Whether it was the fact that they've never been able to hold together a consistent lineup, or their decision to release their albums domestically on their own label - whatever the reason, Monstrosity have always been one of the tragically overlooked bands of the vaunted Florida death metal scene. On this, their second album, however, the band left an indelible mark on the world of technical death metal, and perhaps altered its trajectory in a way few give them credit for.

As brutal and punchy as any album released at the time, Millennium also stands head and shoulders above the rest of Monstrosity's discography for its mind-bending technicality - an element that's since gone missing from the band's repertoire. The songwriting tandem of drummer Lee Harrison and guitarist Jason Morgan put together ten songs full of the kind of arcane rhythm structuring and acrobatic fretwork that only the likes of Suffocation, Atheist and Cynic had dared attempt at the time. This adventurousness becomes evident within the first few seconds of opener "Fatal Milennium", which throws the listener for a pretzel loop over the first handful of bars, shifting effortlessly from a classic thrash riff to a flurry of blasting mayhem, then a nasty fill, before settling into one of the more memorable grooves in all of death metal history.

Over the first four songs - each one a classic - Monstrosity displays a stunning level of versatility, often missing from technical death metal, offering up riff after meaty riff in a wide variety of picking patterns, often with wild, asymmetrical rhythms. But what's most impressive might be the hookiness, which so many other tech-death bands are sadly devoid of. My personal favorite track here is probably "Dream Messiah", which features one of the catchiest intro riffs ever - a barrage of staccato alternate picking that also resurfaces after the chorus and at the end of the song.

But what really sets this album apart and in many ways keeps it from succumbing to one of the genre's pitfalls wherein all the songs start to blend together is the epic "Fragments of Resolution". This is a monstrous [heh] atmospheric doom track, seemingly inspired by the likes of Confessor and Solitude Aeturnus, which effectively bisects the album and serves as a very welcome change of pace after the relentless speed of the first four songs. While not at all lacking in heaviness and intensity, this song provides a much-needed breather before heading into another tech-death assault on the last half of the album. It also exhibits Monstrosity's keen sense of arrangement, not just for songs, but for entire albums - something that, again, most of their contemporaries and followers lack.

The performance on Millennium is, in a word, perfect. Harrison, the band's one and only mainstay over the years, is perhaps the most underappreciated drummer in all of metal, rolling out some of the most inventive percussion patterns in the genre, and pulling off a lot of jaw-droppingly difficult, jazz-inspired rhythms seamlessly and effortlessly. Morgan's playing is equally impressive. but Scott Burns' typically confined, scooped production offers little breathing room for bass virtuoso Kelly Conlon [fresh off his stint in Death] to show off his talents.

When all's said and done, this album is a true benchmark in the history of the tech-death genre. Though it was overshadowed by Suffocation's Pierced From Within, which was written and recorded around the same time, its influence is nonetheless evident in bands like Psycroptic, Spawn of Possession and Gorod - none of which, frankly, holds a candle to Monstrosity when it comes to songwriting and intensity. After Millennium, Monstrosity would part ways with Jason Morgan and go in a more traditional FLDM direction. This was probably the most sensible move, since trying to top this disc in the same style would've been a Sisiphean endeavor.

Monstrosity's second album delves into several dimensions very rarely experimented with before. Were "Imperial Doom", their first LP had induced a truly original and brutal, but awkwardly intelligent material, "Millennium" further experiences the evocatively destructive nature of this genre, propelled by virtuosity and philosophical vividness.

The album is poignant in all its forms, the production are reasonable although one can benefit from more bass playing, which is reminiscent of quality death metal sometimes. These musicians are very comprehensive, they know what they want and thus their sound isn't the usual technical pretentiousness witnessed by bands such as Necrophagist or Pyscroptic, but although less dexterity put into this work, there is plenty of room for instrumental technicality aided by awesome feeling of each instrument.

The structure of each track is layered out uniquely; sometimes you might get the idea that these musicians are trying to test their artistic creativeness by incorporating a lot of different techniques. The riffs are layered out progressively, although at times usually never reach a climax, preferring to staying at an intense comfort zone helped by the incredibly powerful singing of the now sellout George Fischer.

Drums are what make this album true old school death metal; there is a reasonable amount of skill injected into this material, although some of it is a reflection of how powerful sometimes the most basic drum lines can be without the need to create something uberfast or very spontaneous by nature.

Monstrosity also help define melody, their theoretical knowledge is apparent as sometimes this music is a bit like Dream Theatre, although to a more educated level of a spiritual acknowledgement of the music rather than a static one. The guitar solos are extremely soothing most of the time, with a lot of Eddie Van Halen touches. Demonstrating again, that extreme metal could be derived from almost anything which has potential.