INSATANITY — Divine Decomposition (review)

INSATANITY — Divine Decomposition album cover

Album · 1996 · Death Metal

3.5/5 · 2020-08-07
siLLy puPPy

INSATANITY is one of a gazillion old school death metal bands that emerged in the early 90s amongst a legion of extreme metal bands of the same era and would probably be completely forgotten if not for the fact that the natural law guru Mark Passio under the pseudonym of Mark Rhochar was the lead singer of this groovy yet brutal old school death metal band that emerged in 1992 Philadelphia.

Passio has been a vocal anarchist and teacher of cosmic natural laws since all the way back in 2007 when he started his website “What On Earth Is Happening” and has become somewhat of an up and coming celebrity with his passionate sermons of anarchy and the failings of human institutions such as religion and government. Before his ascent on the internet as the top de-occulter on the scene, an angsty young Mark was a passionate musician filled with the rage and irreverence that leads many into the extreme metal world.

Having adopted his name Mark Rhochar from occult literature that signifies a demon, Mark initiated the first rendition of INSATANITY which featured his poetic prose steeped in Satanic liturgy which ultimately attracted the attention of Church of Satan founder Anton Lavey who personally invited a young Passio to join his famous anti-Christian cult of the ego worshippers. Mark accepted and climbed up to the ranks of priests fairly soon.

It was during these years that INSATANITY released its one and only album with Mark Passio (as Mark Rhochar) at the helm. DIVINE DECOMPOSITION emerged in 1996 at the point when death metal was splintering into disparate directions but INSATANITY retained that early primeval sound that evokes early Obituary with a bit more groove and brutal Suffocation styled bombast. The lineup at this point included vocalist Mark Rhochar, guitarists Dan Roberts and Jay Lipitz, bassist Chris Lytle, and drummer Matt Mazzenga.

For hardcore death metal fans who have savored the various flavors of the diverse genre, INSATANITY won’t come off as anything to get overly excited about. The delivery of playing is very much in the vein of early death metal bands ranging from Incantation and Infester to Imprecation and Baspherian however lyrically speaking, INSATANITY is more akin to the second wave black metal bands that excelled in Satanic and anti-Christian themes that tackles more philosophically oriented themes than many death metal bands of the 90s.

Apparently influenced by groove metal acts such as Pantera and Machine Head as well, INSATANITY offers a bit more accessibility than many brutal death metal bands by keeping a groove based rhythmic flow as its underpinning. While listening to Passio’s online sermons it’s hard to picture him as a death metal vocalist but on DIVINE DECOMPOSITION he tackles all the death metal vocal acrobatics with ease ranging from the expecting guttural growls to the higher pitched squeals and mid-range choke-on-your-own-puke grunts.

The plus side of DIVINE DECOMPOSITION is that the musicians are all on the top of their game and this is an excellent slice of aggressive old school death metal however the biggest drawback is the inherent lack of originality as the album comes across as pretty much just another band that was competent but unable to substantially set itself apart from the burgeoning legion of extreme headbangers in the alternative extreme 90s. Regardless of INSATANITY not really finding its own way to stand the test of time, it’s Mark Passio’s current celebrity status that will surely attract many to check this one out and it’s truly the case that there is nothing on this one to be ashamed of. While the band would go on, Passio would split and begin his career as a public speaker but this single album is certainly worthy of exploration by death metal stalwarts seeking the most evil themes in their old school din.