"The Passage Of Existence" is the sixth full-length studio album by US, Florida based death metal act Monstrosity. The album was released through Metal Blade Records in September 2018. It´s the successor to "Spiritual Apocalypse" from 2007 and features one lineup change since the predecessor as Matt Barnes has been added as second guitarist completing the now quintet lineup.

Stylistically the material on "The Passage Of Existence" continue the technically well played US death metal style of "Spiritual Apocalypse (2007)". Monstrosity were one of the early 90s Florida death metal acts which lived in the shadow of more successful artists like Obituary, Deicide, and Morbid Angel, and they were never able to get a real breakthrough, although they´ve continued to dwell in the Florida death metal underground and have continuously released albums (not completely unlike the fate of another Florida death metal act like Brutality). Oh well...there is typically a reason for everything, and the reason why Monstrosity have never reached beyond underground status, is because they don´t stand out much, and they don´t really have a unique style.

"The Passage Of Existence" is otherwise a high quality US death metal release. The musicianship is top notch (the guitar work on the album is quite brilliant), the sound production is raw, brutal, and detailed, suiting the material perfectly, and the songwriting is solid and relatively memorable, so it´s really just a matter of Monstrosity not producing music which is uniquely their own. Fans of Florida style US death metal should take notice here though, as this is a quality release in the genre. A 3.5 star (70%) rating is deserved.

"Then Came the Killing" is the debut full-length studio album by Swedish thrash metal act Mezzrow. The album was released through Active Records in 1990. Mezzrow formed in 1985 under the Necromancy monicker but changed their name to the current one in 1988. They recorded two demos under the Mezzrow monicker before being signed for the release of "Then Came the Killing". "Then Came the Killing" ended up being their sole album release in their original run, as they disbanded after recording a 1991 demo.

Stylistically Mezzrow practice what I would characterize as Testament worship. It´s like Mezzrow have found a forgotten vault of 1986-1987 Testament material and have opted to record it with the same equipment and in the same studio as their heroes used when they recorded their debut album "The Legacy (1987)". That´s how similiar the style, the performances, and the sound production on "Then Came the Killing" are to the same features on the Testament debut. If I didn´t know any better, I would have thought it was Testament I was listening to. Lead vocalist Uffe Petersson isn´t quite as distinct sounding as Chuck Billy, but other than that Mezzrow is arguably a worship act.

So with that out of the way, I´m ready to praise Mezzrow for all the great features of "Then Came the Killing", because overall it´s actually a really strong Bay Area influenced thrash metal release. The quality is high throughout in terms of strong songwriting, high level musicianship, and a raw, powerful, and detailed sound production, which suits the material perfectly. If you can look past the obvious clone factor here, fans of the style are recommended to give this album a listen. A 3.5 star (70%) rating is deserved.

"Children of the Morgue" is the eleventh full-length studio album by US death/thrash/heavy metal act Deceased. The album was released through Hells Headbangers Records in August 2024. It´s the successor to "Thrash Times at Ridgemont High" from 2021, which was a covers album, and as "Thrash Times at Ridgemont High" was preceded by yet another covers album in "Rotten To The Core Part 2 (The Nightmare Continues)" from 2020, "Children of the Morgue" is actually the first album from Deceased featuring new original material since "Ghostly White" from 2018. There´s been one lineup change as drummer Dave Castillo who performed on "Ghostly White" died in a swimming accident in November 2018 and he has been replaced here by Amos Rifkin.

If you´re familiar with Deceased and just about everything they´ve released since at least "Fearless Undead Machines" (1997) (minus the covers albums), you´ll pretty much know what "Children of the Morgue" sounds like. The death metal influences are very limited (as they have been for years), and stylistically the material on "Children of the Morgue" is an old school thrash/speed metal style with a major traditional heavy metal influence. The rhythm section is pounding and organic, while the two guitarists play one heavy and hard rocking riff after another, and spices the whole thing up with some blistering leads and great harmony themes (both of which are absolutely brilliant). It can´t be said enough how well playing Deceased are and how engaging the instrumental part of their music is. Lead vocalist Kingsley "King" Fowley has a raw voice and a shouting hoarse delivery, which becomes a bit one-dimensional for the duration of a full album, but there´s still something incredibly charming about his storytelling style and his horror story lyrics which always save the day.

"Children of the Morgue" features a professional and for the most part well sounding production, but I do think the drums feature a flat and artificial sound, which doesn´t suit the otherwise organic tone of the remaining instruments and vocals. It´s not a major issue, but I hope they bring back a more organic drum sound on the next album.

When all is said and done, "Children of the Morgue" is yet another high quality release from Deceased. They have a cult following (including myself) which will adore this release as equally much as they´ve appreciated the previous output by the band, but "Children of the Morgue" is probably not the album which will break new ground for Deceased and at this point in their career I´m pretty sure that´s not their main goal either. These guys just want to play the type of metal that they love and occasionally make it available to their fans and they are arguably successful in doing that. A 4 star (80%) rating is deserved.

"Unmerciful Order" is an EP release by Brazilian death/thrash metal act Krisiun. The EP was released through Dynamo Records in March 1994. Krisiun formed in 1990 and released three demos and a couple of split releases before being signed to Dynamo Records for the release of "Unmerciful Order". While Krisiun are mostly known as the trio of the Kolesne (and Camargo) brothers Moyses, Max, and Alex, the band were a quartet in the early years and therefore the material on "Unmerciful Order" also features the playing of rhythm guitarist Mauricio Nogueira.

While "Unmerciful Order" is catalogued as an EP, it´s actually more a compilation of early recordings by the band (including the two tracks from the 1993 "Rises from Black/Harmony Dies" split release with Harmony Dies). Therefore the sound quality is a bit up and down and it´s audible that the tracks were recorded at diffferent recording sessions. Stylistically it´s raw, noisy, and relatively simple old school death metal. The vocals are growling and brutal, the drums pound away in an almost unhinged fashion, and the guitars sound like a buzzaw to metal. It´s safe to say this isn´t a professional production job, but it´s definitely authentic and raw to the bone. The material is pretty one-dimensional in nature and while Krisiun would go on to have a relatively successful career, it´s not obvious why from listening to "Unmerciful Order".

To my ears, it´s a below standard quality release for the genre both in terms of production values, musicianship, and songwriting, and it´s not a release which is easy to appreciate unless you enjoy the most raw and simple old school demo death metal recordings, or maybe the earliest releases by the unholy German trinity of Kreator, Sodom, and Destruction (the rawness and primal nature of the music point in that direction). A 2.5 star (50%) rating is warranted.

"The Germs of Circumstance" is the fifth full-length studio album by multi-national death metal act Johansson & Speckmann. The album was released through Soulseller Records in October 2020. It´s the successor to "From the Mouth of Madness" from 2018 and features the exact same quartet lineup who recorded the predecessor. The project is centered around prolific Swedish guitarist/bassist Rogga Johansson (Paganizer, The Grotesquery)...etc.) and American (living in the Czech Republic) lead vocalist Paul Speckmann (Master, Abomination, Death Strike).

Stylistically the material on "The Germs of Circumstance" continue the old school death metal style of the preceding album releases by Johansson & Speckmann. Don´t expect much development of sound or any compositional surprises. It´s still old school and predominantly heavy and mid-paced death metal with both thrash and hardcore (occasionally some punk influenced riffs and rhythms) with Speckmann´s slurry semi-growling vocals in front. It´s not far removed from the style of the first Master album, and the quality of the music is pretty much in that area too.

8 tracks and a total playing time of 26:14 isn´t much quantity for the money, but it wouldn´t have mattered if the quality and memorability of the material were high, but that´s not really the case here. While "The Germs of Circumstance" is both well performed and features a raw and effectful sound production, the material isn´t particularly memorable beyond the album´s playing time. So upon conclusion "The Germs of Circumstance" is another relatively mediocre release from Johansson & Speckmann. It´s not bad by any means, it´s just pretty standard for the genre. A 3 star (60%) rating is warranted.