Review by Michael on February 4, 2021.

Monstrosity are finally back after 11 years!!! And also with a cover that finally looks cool again after the one on Imperial Doom and not just like lovelessly designed on the PC. They also have a second guitarist on board since 2010, Matt Barnes. So much for the formalities. But what does The Passage of Existence have to offer?

It starts directly without much hesitation with 'Cosmic Pandemia' (how fitting in these times...), a cool blastbeat thunderstorm with awesome riffs and breaks. The vocals are partly distorted, which creates a somewhat diabolical atmosphere. What is striking about the album is that there are always very technical parts in the songs, which then suddenly turn into pure bludgeoning like an explosion and vice versa. In the middle of nowhere, very catchy, melodic guitar solos suddenly appear, which at least astonish me. All in all, it must be said that Monstrosity have hereby released one of their strongest albums. If the last outputs of the band could not really captivate me, I listen to The Passage of Existence in regular intervals.

Especially noteworthy tracks are 'Radiated', here the tempo changes and the guitar solos as well as the voice, which reminds me partly of Cannibal Corpse, the catchy and in a somewhat slower tempo held 'The Proselygeist' and 'Maelstrom', which comes along quite technically and convoluted and 'Slaves to the Evermore' reminds from the bass quite a bit of Death in their "Human" or "Individual Thought Patterns" phase. But all in all, all tracks on the CD are on a very high technical level, so there are no songs that really stand out.

Only one question remains for me - what the hell is a 'Proselygeist'???? It sounds like a pretty high-proof German schnapps creation. However, I have yet to see this anywhere here in the supermarket. Maybe that would be an additional source of income, other bands have their own brews by now.

Ratying: 8.7 out of 10

Review by Death8699 on September 23, 2018.

It's been a long while since Monstrosity released a full-length album. But it definitely was worth the wait in gold. This isn't a "typical" death metal album. The production quality was not the greatest, though. It sounded a bit flat. But that doesn't take away from the magic of the album. Almost 60 minutes of pure awesome riff-tastic songs. I don't think that there's a song on here that I didn't like. The reason is the music is really fresh and noteworthy. They play fast and technical, the music just grapples you. It really makes a difference when you're hearing brand new different sounds as well as vocals.

There are blast beats on here, not so much grindcore but just fast tempos. The leads are good as well. Nicely executed and by design. One thing these guys don't do is compromise in songwriting style. With this one, they've copied very little from the past and are reborn, so to speak. It's great to hear them back in action. They really have the time off from writing and out came this release. It's not like In Dark Purity or Rise To Power. They've evolved into their own. It could be a lineup change. Whatever it is/was they're on the return to death metal composition. I liked this album the first time I heard it. My first impression was like: "hmm, new and fresh."

A hint of the old Monstrosity lurks in there but most of the recording is atypical for them. I think that they've really expanded on their death metal musically and have a host of variable rhythm guitar work. The leads are quite good, too. The vocals switch off from low growling to higher end screams. There's so much variety on here it's amazing. It makes you want to think if they'll keep evolving. I sure hope so because where they stand there are no boundaries to their musical genre. They should not duplicate what's on here, just keep on changing it up. That's fine with me because you hear something different every listen to.

Get the album on Spotify first. Then choose whether or not you really want to benefit the band for their creation. Buy the physical CD!! I would say that in summation, this album is nothing but miraculous in the death metal department. They have returned! So praise that, and support their music. They really have a lot to offer the death metal community and now they've done their genre a great deal of justice. No just a good release, but a GREAT release. They've baffled me totally. I wasn't ready for something so profound musically yet I have not checked the lyrical content of the album. Best to stick with the music. A great return to an amazing band!

Rating: 9 out of 10

(Originally written for: http://www.secret-face.com/)