Having liked In Dark Purity, I decided to check out Rise To Power. And I was not disappointed. The first track The Exordium starts out with a typical Monstrosity riff, mid paced with fast picked notes and a good amount of groove. The song switches between relatively fast passages with some groove and all out blasting. At about 3:00, there is a really cool technical riff with which the song ends. Track 3, Wave Of Annihilation, is one of the highlights of the CD. The song begins with a cool slower paced death metal grove riff to which the vocals soon join in. It is very catchy but still heavy as fuck. The song focuses on groove more than speed, and it is also progressive and has lots of riffs. Track 4, The Fall Of Eden is an atmospheric, eerie sounding instrumental, in the vein of Deaths Cosmic Sea, and essentially serves as a lengthy introduction to track 5, Chemical Reaction, a mid paced death metal thrasher very typical of Monstrosity. Track 6, A Casket For The Soul, is an overall fast, aggressive tune, whereas the next track Rise To Power is again more of a groove oriented slower tune. Track 8, Visions Of Violence, is for the most part a full speed ahead blasting death metal song, but they throw in really cool tech riffs in between the mayhem. Damn, these guys can play! Essentially, the CD offers a nice mixture of slower, groove oriented songs and fast, aggressive songs, with some songs incorporating both slower passages and full speed ahead blasting. I personally think that the band do both very well. There is definitely a good amount of thrash influence in the music on this CD, and those of you familiar with the band will know that there is on their other CDs as well. For those that arent familiar with the band, their overall sound can be described as thrashy old school death metal along the lines of Malevolent Creation. Though they essentially play old school Florida style death metal, they certainly do not sound dated. They adapt very well to the times, and the production on this CD is killer, fitting with the music very well. It is very crisp and clear, and you can hear every note that is played - the blast beats never drown out the guitars (man, I hate it when that happens). Overall, it is a very solid CD. It is definitely a good purchase for any death metal fan looking for some new straightforward death metal to listen to.
