UMUR
"Theatre of Operations" is the first demo recording by Finnish, Paimio based death metal act Monstrosity. The demo was independently released in September 1991. Monstrosity formed in 1990 and only released this demo before disbanding in 1992. Monstrosity is a trio featuring Teemo Jalo on bass, Markus Ketonen on vocals/guitar, and Seppo Kittilä on drums. The latter had prier to forming Monstrosity been an original member of Funebre and appears on the early Funebre releases.
Stylistically the material on the 5 track, 16:55 minutes long demo is old school Scandinavian death metal with both nods toward hardcore, doom, and thrash. So in that respect this is a pretty standard death metal demo from that time and location. Monstrosity are above average musicians though and the musical performances are pretty strong on the demo, which gives it an edge and an air of professionalism that not all early Finnish death metal demos possess.
"Theatre of Operations" is a well produced demo too, so although it may be a bit lacking when it comes to sounding unique or standing out on the scene, everything else is of a good quality and it´s certainly an enjoyable first (and only) demo release by Monstrosity. A 3 star (60%) rating is warranted.