UMUR
"Rise to Power" is the fourth full-length studio album by US, Florida based death metal act Monstrosity. The album was released through Conquest Music, Inc. in September 2003. It´s the successor to "In Dark Purity" from 1999 and features a couple of lineup changes since the predecessor as bassist Kelly Conlon has been replaced by Michael Poggione and Sam Molina has been added as second guitarist, making Monstrosity a quintet on "Rise to Power".
Regarding the music not much has changed since "In Dark Purity (1999)", and the listener is still treated to 100% pure old school Florida death metal. I´m almost immediately reminded of mid- to late 90s Morbid Angel, but with a lead vocalist sounding a lot like George "Corpsegrinder" Fisher in front. Deep growling and higher pitched screams are there and accounted for. Jason Avery (formerly of Eulogy) has a brutal and commanding delivery, but his voice and vocal style isn´t particularly unique. The same can be said about the instrumental part of the music. It´s skillfully performed, but the songwriting isn´t up there with the most catchy and memorable artists in the genre. "Rise to Power" is however a lot more interesting than the last couple of releases by Monstrosity, and I´m well entertained while the album spins.
"Rise to Power" features a detailed and relatively well sounding production job, and again...I´m reminded of Morbid Angel. The guitar tone, the drum production, there are just several production features, which sound a lot like contemporary Morbid Angel releases. So upon conclusion it would be a lie if I called "Rise to Power" a unique sounding release or told you that I think Monstrosity have a sound of their own, but what they do have is a good basis death metal foundation and a passion for what they do, and therefore a 3 - 3.5 star (65%) rating isn´t all wrong.