Out NOW
Via Metal Blade Records
Words by: Courtney Stark
Fort Lauderdale’s underground extreme metal overlords Monstrosity have long been cemented as one of the genre’s more vicious forces, and like many within the metal sphere, Friday the 13th of March 202666 has proven to be a nexus point — a date where both established acts and the newest members of the clergy converge to unleash their latest opus upon the world. Whether it be an album serving as a reaffirmation of purpose and revival, or a calculated strike to carve their name into the genre’s ever-expanding canon, the outcome remains the same — a flood of new works cast into the void, each vying to leave its mark in blood and distortion.
Emerging once more from the depths after a seven-year silence, Screams From Beneath the Surface does not simply continue a legacy — it exhumes it. At the core of this return stands a line-up both familiar but sharpened to a finer edge: drummer and architect Lee Harrison remains the unyielding force, flanked by long-time guitarist Matt Barnes, the returning bass player Mark Van Erp, and a new voice in Ed Webb — whose guttural delivery seeps through the cracks like venom, thickening the band’s already suffocating atmosphere.
Across its ten tracks, the album moves with precision and calculated violence, dense, crushing riffs locking in with intricate drumming that refuses to spiral into chaos. Even as the band descends into darker territories throughout the album, the ferocity remains intact but sharpens, track by track.
Tracks like Banished to the Skies and The Atrophied surge forward with a suffocating momentum, driven by bone-crushing riffs and tightly wound percussion that is unrelenting and unpretentious. The Colossal Rage pivots into something more blunt and oppressive, a dense wall of riffs and pummelling low end, with Webb’s guttural roar slicing through like acid, leaving nothing standing in its wake.
Fortunes Engraved in Blood and The Dark Aura pull the album deeper into shadow, letting a creeping, ominous atmosphere slither through without ever dulling the band’s core brutality. By the time Veil of Disillusion slams shut, the assault has fully sunk in — leaving nothing behind but a cold, lingering weight that refuses to lift, unresolved and relentless.
Now that the 13th of March 202666 has passed, Screams From Beneath the Surface has emerged, dragging itself from the depths and unleashing its weight upon the world. Precision and brutality collide across ten tracks of calculated chaos. This is controlled violence at its most unrelenting, a record that doesn’t just demand attention — it forces it. For fans of Morbid Angel, Nile, and early Monstrosity, this is a masterclass in death metal’s technical ferocity and oppressive atmosphere.
