Released: March 13, 2026
Seven and a half years passed between The Passage of Existence and Screams from Beneath the Surface. Then Monstrosity returned by making the listener wait a little longer. “Banished to the Skies” opens with keyboards, clean guitar, and a mournful lead before Lee Harrison brings the whole band in. For a group rooted in fast, technical Florida death metal, it is a patient entrance. It also raises the album’s main question: how much detail can Monstrosity pack into these songs and still make them stick?
The opener spends nearly seven minutes testing that limit. Matt Barnes and additional guitarist Justin Walker divide four solos between them, moving from melodic bends to sharper, more frantic runs. Underneath, returning original bassist Mark Van Erp remains unusually easy to follow, especially when he climbs away from the guitar line. Harrison fills the spaces with ride and hi-hat patterns while the double kick keeps the slower riffs moving. Each turn has a clear marker. A lead introduces an idea, the rhythm section changes pace, and new vocalist Ed Webb’s low roar pulls the song back to its central phrase.
The shorter songs handle the same problem differently. “The Colossal Rage” cuts the running time almost in half and relies on a direct thrash pulse, rolling drum breaks, and a blunt title refrain. “Spiral” starts with isolated guitar, bass, and drum hits, then snaps into a blast beat. Its mid-paced chorus gives the word “spiral” a simple landing point while pinch harmonics keep scraping at the edges. Both songs move through plenty of parts, then return to the riff or phrase that first pulled you in.
“The Atrophied” pushes the question hardest. It opens on Harrison’s drum rolls and Van Erp’s winding bass, charges into blasting, drops into a half-time melodic section, and then works through a more technical middle. It fits five guitar solos into 5:27, four by Barnes and one by Walker. The leads divide the vocal sections and change the colour of the riff underneath them. Webb helps by shifting between a deep, dry growl and a harsher high register. He does not chase every guitar accent. His longer lines sit across the riff, while the higher screams signal a turn in the arrangement.
The same concern with collapse runs through the lyrics. “Banished to the Skies,” “The Atrophied,” and “Vapors” return to poisoned air, chemical fog, and lives dissolving into dust. “The Thorns” moves into public humiliation, technology, and the cruelty of watching someone’s collapse replayed for an audience. The verses use dense, image-heavy language. Short refrains cut through it. Webb can bark “Vapors” or “The Thorns” as a fixed point while the instruments keep changing shape around him.
Jason Suecof’s mix leaves room for all of this detail. Drums and bass were recorded at Audiohammer; guitars and vocals were tracked at Morrisound, where the album was mastered. Van Erp’s bass has definition, Harrison’s cymbal work stays audible during the blasts, and the guitar leads keep their separate contours. “The Dark Aura” opens with a slower, doom-weighted passage. “Veil of Disillusion” throws a solo over a blast beat without turning into a blur.
So how much detail can Monstrosity fit into these songs and still make them stick? On Screams from Beneath the Surface, quite a lot. Harrison keeps providing a way through: a bass entrance, a title refrain, a sudden tempo drop, or a clean solo handoff. You leave remembering Van Erp’s winding entrance to “The Atrophied,” the one-word hook in “Vapors” and the slow opening of “The Dark Aura.” The technique matters because Monstrosity turns it into details you can recall.
Written by Rob Joncas for DeadNoteMedia.
Artist information and music courtesy of the bands and publicists.
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