Monstrosity (band)

Monstrosity is an American death metal band formed in 1990 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The band's original lineup included George "Corpsegrinder" Fisher, who found greater success in 1995 after becoming the current frontman of Cannibal Corpse.

History

Formation and ''Imperial Doom''

Vocalist George "Corpsegrinder" Fisher, drummer Lee Harrison and bassist Mark Van Erp founded Monstrosity in 1990. Harrison had just left New York death metal band Malevolent Creation and George Fisher left his band Corpsegrinder in his hometown of Baltimore and relocated to Florida in 1990. Jon Rubin, who had played guitar in Malevolent Creation also joined to form Monstrosity. Mark Van Erp played bass in the band Cynic and he left Cynic to join Monstrosity. The four members of Monstrosity signed with German label Nuclear Blast.

Monstrosity's played their first shows during fall 1990, when the Florida death metal scene was already largely established.

Jason Gobel, who was a member of Cynic, assisted Monstrosity in the recording of '' Imperial Doom'', despite having never been an official member of Monstrosity. The album was released in 1992 by Nuclear Blast. To support the album, Monstrosity toured Europe as support for Pestilence.

Lineup changes and ''Millenium''

After a number of problems with the label, Lee Harrison formed his own record label Conquest Music in 1996.
The band released their sophomore album ''Millennium'' in 1996. Guitarist Jon Rubin was replaced by Jason Morgan and bassist Mark Van Erp, by Kelly Conlon. Following the recording sessions for the album, George Fisher left Monstrosity to replace Chris Barnes in Cannibal Corpse, and was subsequently replaced with Jason Avery on vocals in Monstrosity.

Later releases (1999-present)

In 1999, Monstrosity released their third studio album '' In Dark Purity''. The album was produced by Monstrosity and recorded at Morrisound Studios, Tampa, Florida. Conquest Music licensed the album to Olympic/Slip Disc/Century Media for better distribution in the US and licensed the album to Metal Age and then Hammerheart Records in Europe. Jason Avery was the vocalist, Lee Harrison, the drummer, Tony Norman, the guitarist and Kelly Conlon, the bassist.

By 2004, Monstrosity recorded their fourth studio album '' Rise to Power'' at Audio Hammer Studio, Sanford, Florida.The album was produced by Lee Harrison and co-produced by Monstrosity, and engineered by Jason Suecof. Monstrosity toured the US in support of the album and they were invited by the Bogotá, Colombia government to headline a musical festival in Bogotá with 85,000 people were in attendance.

Avery was replaced in December 2005 by Brian Werner. Werner filled vocal duties on the band's 2006 European tour and subsequent U.S. shows. In December 2006, Werner was replaced by Mike Hrubovcak (Divine Rapture, Imperial Crystalline Entombment, Vile) and Mark English (guitar) joined the band.

The band released its fifth studio album'' Spiritual Apocalypse'' in 2008, followed by its sixth studio album eleven years later with '' The Passage of Existence'' on September 7, 2018.

Band members

;Current members
* Lee Harrison – drums (1990–present)
* Mark van Erp – bass (1990–1995, 2021–present)
* Matt Barnes – rhythm guitar (2010–present)
* Justin Walker – lead guitar (2019–present)
* Edwin Webb – vocals (2021–present)

;Former members
* Jon Rubin – guitars (1990–1994)
* George "Corpsegrinder" Fisher – vocals
* Jason "Tux" Morgan – guitars (1994–1999)
* Tony Norman – lead guitar (1999–2005)
* Kelly Conlon – bass (1995–2000)
* Jason Avery – vocals (1996–2001, 2003–2005)
* Mike Poggione – bass (2001–2021)
* Sam Molina – rhythm guitar (2003–2006), vocals
* Mark English – lead guitar (2006–2019)
* Mike Hrubovcak – vocals (2006–2021)

;Touring members
* Pat O'Brien – lead guitar (1996–1997)
* Jay Fernandez – guitars (1998–1999)
* Bobby Earl – vocals (2001)
* Patrick Hall – guitars (2002)
* Brian Werner – vocals (2006)
* J.J. Hrubovcak – guitars (2007)
* Ben Kuzay – bass (2008)
* Andrew Guthrie – bass (2012)
* Jamie Harris – guitars (1998)
* Jamie Osburne – guitars (1998)
* Matt Moore – guitars (2009)
* Steve Bailey – guitars (2000)
* Chuck Amos – guitars (1994)
* Adam Bollenbach – guitars (1993)
* Jason Gobel – guitars (1991)

Timeline

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Alignbars =justify
DateFormat =mm/dd/yyyy
Period =from:01/01/1990 till:01/01/2024
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ScaleMinor = increment:1 start:1990
TimeAxis =orientation:horizontal format:yyyy
Legend =orientation:horizontal position:bottom

Colors=
id:vocals value:red legend:Vocals
id:lguitar value:teal legend:Lead_guitar
id:rguitar value:brightgreen legend:Rhythm_guitar
id:bass value:blue legend:Bass
id:drums value:orange legend:Drums
id:studio value:black legend:Studio_album

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at:03/26/1992 color:black layer:back
at:08/01/1996 color:black layer:back
at:09/04/1999 color:black layer:back
at:09/23/2003 color:black layer:back
at:04/05/2007 color:black layer:back
at:09/07/2018 color:black layer:back

BarData=
bar:George text:"George Fisher"
bar:Jason text:"Jason Avery"
bar:Sam text:"Sam Molina"
bar:Mike text:"Mike Hrubovcak"
bar:Edwin text:"Edwin Webb"
bar:Jon text:"Jon Rubin"
bar:Tux text:"Jason Morgan"
bar:Tony text:"Tony Norman"
bar:Mark text:"Mark English"
bar:Justin text:"Justin Walker"
bar:Matt text:"Matt Barnes"
bar:Mark2 text:"Mark van Erp"
bar:Kelly text:"Kelly Conlon"
bar:Mike2 text:"Mike Poggione"
bar:Lee text:"Lee Harrison"

PlotData =
width:11 textcolor:black align:left anchor:from shift:(10,-4)
bar:George from:start till:10/01/1996 color:vocals
bar:Jason from:10/01/1996 till:06/01/2001 color:vocals
bar:Sam from:06/01/2001 till:02/01/2003 color:vocals
bar:Sam from:02/01/2003 till:12/31/2005 color:rguitar
bar:Jason from:02/01/2003 till:12/31/2005 color:vocals
bar:Mike from:01/01/2006 till:07/01/2021 color:vocals
bar:Edwin from:07/01/2021 till:end color:vocals
bar:Jon from:start till:04/01/1994 color:lguitar
bar:Jon from:start till:04/01/1994 color:rguitar width:3
bar:Tux from:04/01/1994 till:02/01/1999 color:lguitar
bar:Tux from:04/01/1994 till:02/01/1999 color:rguitar width:3
bar:Tony from:02/01/1999 till:12/31/2005 color:lguitar
bar:Tony from:02/01/1999 till:02/01/2003 color:rguitar width:3
bar:Mark from:01/01/2006 till:04/01/2019 color:lguitar
bar:Mark from:01/01/2006 till:02/01/2010 color:rguitar width:3
bar:Justin from:04/01/2019 till:end color:lguitar
bar:Matt from:02/01/2010 till:end color:rguitar
bar:Mark2 from:start till:06/01/1995 color:bass
bar:Kelly from:06/01/1995 till:12/31/2000 color:bass
bar:Mike2 from:01/01/2001 till:07/01/2021 color:bass
bar:Mark2 from:07/01/2021 till:end color:bass
bar:Lee from:start till:end color:drums

Discography

Studio albums

*'' Imperial Doom'' (1992)
*''Millennium'' (1996)
*'' In Dark Purity'' (1999)
*'' Rise to Power'' (2003)
*'' Spiritual Apocalypse'' (2007)
*''The Passage of Existence'' (2018)

EPs and singles

*''Burden of Evil'' (1991)
*''Darkest Dream'' (1992)

Compilations

*''Enslaving the Masses'' (2001)

Live albums

*''Live Extreme Brazilian – Tour 2002'' (2003)
*''10 Years of Nuclear Blast'' (1997)
*''Stages Of Decay'' (2001)

DVDs

*''Live Apocalypse'' (2012)

Demo albums

*''Horror Infinity'' (1990)
*''Slaves and Masters'' (1994)

References

External links

Official websiteMonstrosity
on Facebook
*
Monstrosity
at Encyclopaedia Metallum
Interview at Swampfoot Records

{{DEFAULTSORT:Monstrosity
1990 establishments in Florida
American technical death metal musical groups
Death metal musical groups from Florida
Metal Blade Records artists
Musical groups established in 1990
Musical groups from Fort Lauderdale, Florida
Musical quintets from Florida