Brutal death metal is one of those styles where I tend to be fairly picky, as for every band that offers some great songwriting and filthy production alongside the expected guttural vocals, blasting, and grooves, you’ve got hundreds of groups with the same exact patterns and extremely rough production values. Australia’s Iniquitous Monolith caught my attention a little while back when the first preview songs for their full-length Monstrous Degradation, as they seemed to be bridging the gap between traditional brutal death metal and some of the technical and groove leaning death metal of the early to mid-2000s. It’s the type of album that hits all the boxes you’d expect from this style of death metal while also offering a bit more variety and nuance than is typical, making for a strong effort from beginning to end.
Opener “Putrid Vomitorium” wastes little time in bringing the heavy, as its guitar, bass, and drums come roaring in with thick and bottom-heavy tonality that makes it feel like you’re being submerged in a thick tar. If you’ve heard either of the group’s previous EP’s what’s noticeable is the production tweaks that have been made on Monstrous Degradation, as this is the most balanced and lethal the band has sounded to date. Not only does the bass stand out in ways that lean a bit more towards the technical death metal side of the aisle, but the blasts and grooves from the drums hit hard and have a very full sound rather than the tinnier one that is common in a lot of brutal death. At their core, Iniquitous Monolith still move between blasting and slower chugging grooves like you’d expect, but their songwriting offers some more twists and turns that make the material stand out. Sometimes this comes in the form of solos that take on a more horror movie tone like on the title track, or through the injection of some subtle melodies that add a creepier atmosphere. “Skin Stripper” and “Degraded and Disposed Of” are the best examples of this, as they give just a slight breather between the intensity of the riffs and drum beats to let some tense and eerie melodies steal the spotlight. It also helps that Iniquitous Monolith has kept things at a brisk thirty-three-minute run-time, giving them time to hit hard and throw some variety at the listener without pushing ideas into repetition.
There’s plenty to like about the filthy tonality and sheer weight of the instrumentals, but vocalist Tarren Whitfield helps to elevate things further. His core sound is the usual guttural growls and gurgles that bludgeon just as hard as the rest of the band, but there are also some higher shrieks and other distorted pitches that help to break things up. There’s a decent amount of back and forth between the highs and lows on Monstrous Degradation, keeping things a bit more interesting and less one-dimensional compared to your typical brutal death metal. My favorite performance on the album is on “Degraded and Disposed Of” though, as around the two-and-a-half-minute mark there’s a layer of distortion applied that gives off a more alien sound. Besides the vocals themselves, you do get some clips from different horror movies on some of the tracks to add to the gore-soaked tone. They fit the songs they’re included on well, and thankfully aren’t stretched out to the point of feeling like filler. It’s also worth mentioning that this feels like the best balance Iniquitous Monolith has gotten between their vocals and instrumentals, as Whitfield overpowered the rest of the band on the Guttural Horror Slam re-release.
Monstrous Degradation finds Iniquitous Monolith taking things to the next level, as they’ve not only nailed the production but the songwriting has plenty of substance. There’s still everything you’d expect from a brutal death metal/slam album, but with some dips into mid-2000s technical and traditional death metal the patterns are a bit more varied and help individual songs to stand out. Combine that with some appropriately gory samples and stand-out vocals, and you have material that’s a must listen if you are a fan of this style. Monstrous Degradation is available from Amputated Vein Records.
-Review by Chris Dahlberg