''Rise to Power'' is the fourth

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

by the American

death metal Death metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. It typically employs heavily distorted and low-tuned guitars, played with techniques such as palm muting and tremolo picking; deep growling vocals; aggressive, powerful drumming, feat ...

band Monstrosity. The album was recorded at Audio Hammer studios in

Sanford, Florida Sanford is a city in the central region of the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Seminole County. As of the 2020 census, its population was 61,051. Known as the "Historic Waterfront Gateway City", Sanford sits on the southern shore ...

, with the engineer

Jason Suecof Jason Suecof (born April 3, 1980) is an American record producer, audio engineer and guitarist best known for his work with heavy metal bands such as Trivium, Battlecross, Death Angel, All That Remains, Bury Your Dead, The Black Dahlia Murder ...

and was released on September 23, 2003, by Conquest Music. During the tour to promote ''Rise to Power'', Monstrosity headlined the Rock al Parque festival in

Bogotá Bogotá (, also , , ), officially Bogotá, Distrito Capital, abbreviated Bogotá, D.C., and formerly known as Santa Fe de Bogotá (; ) during the Spanish period and between 1991 and 2000, is the capital city of Colombia, and one of the larges ...

Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...

, and performed in front of 80,000 people.

Background

Following an unsuccessful planned Mexican tour, which was initially scheduled for early December 2001 and rescheduled for early 2002 as a result of

Sepultura Sepultura (, "grave")Barcinski & Gomes 1999, page 17. is a Brazilian heavy metal band from Belo Horizonte. Formed in 1984 by brothers Max and Igor Cavalera,Barcinski & Gomes 1999, page 16. the band was a major force in the groove metal, thra ...

's Mexican dates coinciding with the original tour, Monstrosity began to record their fourth studio album at Morrisound Studios in early 2002. However, due to the band's heavy touring schedule, the recording was delayed to April 2002.

Critical reception

John Serba of

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

criticized the band stating, "Lyrically tired and musically derivative, Monstrosity remains firmly rooted in the early-1990s meat-and-potatoes death metal ethic, eyes not locked on the genre's future like

Nile The Nile, , Bohairic , lg, Kiira , Nobiin language, Nobiin: Áman Dawū is a major north-flowing river in northeastern Africa. It flows into the Mediterranean Sea. The Nile is the longest river in Africa and has historically been considered ...

or Absu, or on memorable songwriting." Serba also wrote that in ''Rise to Power'', the group "still doesn't break out of the third tier of Floridian-via-New York City-style baby-eaters, stringing together a bunch of musically competent, third-generation, ripped-off

Morbid Angel Morbid Angel is an American death metal Death metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. It typically employs heavily distorted and low-tuned guitars, played with techniques such as palm muting and tremolo picking; deep growling ...

-via-

Slayer Slayer was an American thrash metal band from Huntington Park, California. The band was formed in 1981 by guitarists Kerry King and Jeff Hanneman, drummer Dave Lombardo and bassist/vocalist Tom Araya. Slayer's fast and aggressive musical style ...

-while-sleeping-with-

Suffocation Asphyxia or asphyxiation is a condition of deficient supply of oxygen to the body which arises from abnormal breathing. Asphyxia causes generalized hypoxia, which affects primarily the tissues and organs. There are many circumstances that can i ...

riffs, peppered with clackity-typewriter double-bass drums and vocals from

Glen Benton Glen Benton (born June 18, 1967) is an American death metal musician. He is best known as the lead vocalist and bassist for the death metal band Deicide and was also a part of the band Vital Remains, where he has performed in recording sessions a ...

's evil second cousin's former roommate, thrice removed." He complemented, "Monstrosity attempts to scorch already blackened, barren ground, with no lighter fluid or original ideas in its possession." The '' Chronicles of Chaos'' webzine writer Brian Meloon gave the album a rating of 6 out of 10, stating that ''Rise to Power'' was similar to the band's previous album ''

In Dark Purity ''In Dark Purity'' is the third studio album by American death metal band Monstrosity. The first version of this album was released by German Metal Age Recordings (Turbo Rec. follow-up label). However, the label was a rip-off label and theref ...

'', but that he found it rather uninspired. He observed that Monstrosity's style remained largely unchanged: "it's still a

riff A riff is a repeated chord progression or refrain in music (also known as an ostinato figure in classical music); it is a pattern, or melody, often played by the rhythm section instruments or solo instrument, that forms the basis or accompani ...

-heavy brand of death metal featuring both

power chord A power chord (also fifth chord) is a colloquial name for a chord in guitar music, especially electric guitar, that consists of the root note and the fifth, as well as possibly octaves of those notes. Power chords are commonly played on am ...

-based riffs and individual note lines, harmonized guitar parts,

growled vocals A death growl, or simply growl, is an extended vocal technique usually employed in extreme styles of music, particularly in death metal and other extreme subgenres of heavy metal music. Death growl vocals are sometimes criticized for the ...

, fast

double bass drumming The bass drum is a large drum that produces a note of low definite or indefinite pitch. The instrument is typically cylindrical, with the drum's diameter much greater than the drum's depth, with a struck head at both ends of the cylinder. The ...

and

blast beat A blast beat is a type of drum beat that originated in hardcore punk and grindcore, and is often associated with certain styles of extreme metal, namely black metal and death metal,Adam MacGregor, ''PCP Torpedo'' by Agoraphobic Nosebleed rev ...

s." Meloon defined ''Rise to Power'' as a "competent release but nothing special."

Track listing

Personnel

;Monstrosity *Jason Avery – vocals *Tony Norman – guitars *Sam Molina – guitars, backing vocals on "Rise to Power" *Mark English – guitar solo on "Rise to Power" *Lee Harrison – drums ;Production *Scott Matthews – photography *Kelly Milliman – photography *Montrosity – production *

– engineering, guitar solo on "A Casket for the Soul" *Tony Norman – assistant engineering *Lee Harrison – production, graphic design, assistant engineering *Tom Morris – mastering *Mike Poggione – bass *John Snead – drum technician *Jacek Wisniewski – cover art

References

{{Authority control 2003 albums Monstrosity (band) albums Metal Blade Records albums