After seven years of anticipation, Florida death metal veterans Monstrosity return with Screams From Beneath The Surface. We spoke with Lee Harrison, Matt Barnes, Mark Van Erp, and Ed Webb.
1. After
seven years of silence, what sparked the creative fire behind Screams From
Beneath The Surface? Was there a specific moment when you knew it was time for
MONSTROSITY to return with a new full-length?
LEE
HARRISON: We've
been busy since before we even finished the last album in 2018. I actually
started writing this one during the mixing sessions for the previous record.
While we were mixing, I wrote four songs: "Banished to the Skies,"
"The Atrophied," "The Thorns," and "The Dark
Aura." I was trying to get ahead so this album wouldn't take forever to
release but of course, life had other plans. When Covid hit in 2020, I wrote a
bunch more songs and pretty much wrapped up the writing phase with help from
Matt Barnes. Nine of the ten tracks started with my initial ideas, Matt then
takes those ideas, enhances them, and makes them better. We have a really solid
working relationship, and things go relatively smoothly when we approach it
that way. The tenth song, "Fortunes Engraved in Blood," was one Matt
brought in as his own contribution to the album. We had a little back and forth
on it, but for the most part, it's the way he originally presented it.
MATT
BARNES: It's a
misconception that we were sitting in silence for 7 years and then decided to
release an album. An album is a lot of work and requires a lot of coordination
with other people's schedules. I've never had the luxury of having no
responsibilities besides writing and recording an album, such as bands like
Metallica would have.
2.
"The Atrophied" was the first track written for the album. Why did
this song become the blueprint for the record's overall direction?
LEE
HARRISON: Like I
said, I came up with four ideas originally, and "The Atrophied" was
one of them. The album in general has a lot of dynamics, and "The
Atrophied" is kind of all those ideas condensed into one overall song. All
the songs have ingredients that you can pinpoint to previous times in our
career. For instance, "Dark Aura" is kind of a cousin to
"Fragments of Resolution" from the Millennium album. "Banished
to the Skies" is a distant relative of "Angels’ Venom." There’s
nothing that’s too radical of a departure from our previous albums. We
definitely incorporate new ideas into each record, but it’s never too far from
what we would normally do.
MATT
BARNES: I wouldn't
say "The Atrophied" was the blueprint, because it was not the first
song completed for the album, although Lee might have finished the demo first.
If I recall, I initially received 4 demo songs from Lee at the same time. I did
sense there was some traditional heavy metal that crept in, which is a good
thing. There's a lot of death metal out there now that's just soul-deadening
racket. You should be able to put your true self into your music, and surely
it's not just that one note. I prefer listening to a record that has many moods
and different types of songs to the bands that only want to push extremity and
write the same song 10 times and call it an album.
3. Lee,
your drumming has always been a defining force in MONSTROSITY's sound. How did
you approach pushing your rhythmic intensity further on this album without
losing the band's core identity?
LEE
HARRISON: I just
try to write for the song and not turn it into a show-off fest. We definitely
incorporate interesting ideas to hopefully captivate the listener, but we don’t
just throw in a bunch of flashy parts for the sake of it. It has to be what the
song actually calls for.
4. Mark,
your return to the band marks a powerful reunion. How did stepping back into
MONSTROSITY influence the songwriting and chemistry this time around?
MARK VAN
ERP: As far as
songwriting goes, not at all... I didn't write any of these. Lee had most of
the songs already written, including the majority of the bass lines, with a
little help here and there from Matt. My role was pretty straightforward; I
came in and just put my stank on it. When it comes to chemistry though, both on
stage and off, it's been great. We all get along really well. We've already
knocked out several tours with this lineup, and honestly, it's only gotten
tighter and better each time. Now we're gearing up for another one, and I can't
wait to hit the road again. Hope to see you out there.
5. Ed,
as the newest member and former vocalist of Massacre, how did you approach
honoring MONSTROSITY's legacy while injecting your own vocal personality into
the material?
ED WEBB: When I first approached learning
the material I realized that not only did I have to step up and learn the George
(Corpsegrinder) era, but also the Jason Avery and Mike Hrubovcak stuff as well.
Each have their own style so I tried to sing their songs as close to their
style as best as possible. With the new material, I just sang the songs the way
I normally would when recording, trying to pronounce the lyrics so they are
understandable yet still guttural, and hit my screams as long as I can when
needed. It's definitely been a challenge and honor to get to sing all these
Monstrosity tunes for sure.
6. Matt,
you described "The Atrophied" as having the feel of a condensed epic
in the spirit of Rush or Iron Maiden. How do you balance that sense of grandeur
with the unrelenting brutality of death metal?
MATT
BARNES: I think
death metal needs the grandeur because at the end of the day it's music. There
is a place for bands to take everything to the limit, and I don't want that to
stop. Who can play the fastest? Who can tune the lowest? Who can create the
bleakest or most hellish atmosphere? That's all great, but I also want to hear
a quality song now and then. It's part of a personal revelation after a
lifetime of being a metalhead that you shouldn't have to go outside of the
metal genre when you are not feeling miserable and you just want to hear some
good tunes.
7. The
album was recorded between Audiohammer Studios and Morrisound Studios. How did
combining modern production techniques with Morrisound's legendary legacy shape
the final sonic assault?
LEE
HARRISON: I think
people have the misconception that Morrisound is some antiquated studio. In
reality, it's every bit as modern as Audiohammer, and maybe even more so in
certain ways. Jim Morris has recently gotten heavily into immersive audio,
particularly with Dolby Atmos, handling all these cutting edge surround sound
mixes. From what I understand, that required a huge investment in equipment and
setup. So, it's not like there's some old school workflow that's unique to
Morrisound. They're definitely not still using tape, lol they've got all the
latest gear, plugins, and technology to keep them right at the forefront. If
anything they have the experience of knowing what we want since they've done so
many death metal albums at this point. Audiohammer has the same thing since
they also have a really good understanding of what we are going for in our
sound.
8. The
album artwork by Timbul Cahyono is described as entirely organic and AI-free.
How important is that raw authenticity in an era increasingly dominated by
digital shortcuts?
LEE
HARRISON: I'm not
as picky about AI as some people I know, but I wouldn't want to use it for an
album cover. We're fortunate to have been working with Timbul Cahyono since
2018. He's done our last two covers as well as numerous T-shirt designs for us,
so we have a great working relationship. I don't mind some computer generated
art. I can understand the complaints about the Millennium cover, but I actually
think the In Dark Purity cover is pretty cool. While it was generated on a
computer, there's still a strong human element added, you're more or less
painting directly on the computer itself. It really just depends on what the
album's concept calls for. For Passage of Existence, there were a lot of colors
and it had a brighter vibe, so with this one we wanted to go in a darker
direction. It's a little different in that respect. We know we'll never please
everybody, so we just pursue the ideas we want and hope most people like them.
It was cool that Timbul had the timelapse video of him creating the artwork,
people were starting to accuse us of using AI, and it was nice to be able to
shut that down.
9.
You'll be taking these songs across Europe on the 2026 tour. What can fans
expect from MONSTROSITY on stage this time around — especially with such a
reinvigorated lineup?
MATT
BARNES: It's great
to go back to Europe in support of the album. The timing is perfect. We hope to
see all our old friends, see some fresh faces in the crowd, put on a good show,
and then maybe enjoy a few of the local brews. The challenge of the tour for me
is to have the best guitar sound I can possibly have every night and to not
fall on my face when I improvise a few of the lead breaks.
LEE
HARRISON: For this
tour, we’re going to do a well-rounded set with something from every album.
We’ll also feature some of the new material along with the classics we know
people want to hear. We’re really looking forward to getting back on the road
and, hopefully, keeping the ball rolling this time. Since this tour is timed
with the album’s release, we’re hoping that will make things go a lot smoother.
We always seem to get screwed in that respect...the album comes out, and then
two years later we finally make it to Europe. We tried to sync things up better
on the last album, but it still didn’t work out. This time, we wanted to make
sure we got over there in a timely manner.
10.
MONSTROSITY has been a pillar of American death metal for decades. With Screams
From Beneath The Surface, are you looking back in defiance, or forward into new
extremes?
LEE
HARRISON: Nothing's
really changed, we're just enjoying the present. That said, we do have some
exciting plans for the future, so we're looking forward to getting a lot more
done. Fingers crossed it doesn't take another seven years lol
MATT
BARNES: I'm looking
forward. I'm proud of Screams From Beneath the Surface and I'm ready to start
working on another one that is not typical, not a rehash of Screams, but is
still Monstrosity. It's part of the discovery of what the essence of the band
is and what we are feeling at the time of creating it.
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