I don’t know where my fascination with serial killer themed metal comes from. Sure, I had a phase where I was reading up on them obsessively as a teen, before serial killers became an interest of primarily middle aged moms and I became ashamed admitting it. But something about samples from documentaries, interviews, something about found sound and rearranged samples, together with ambient noise and the crunchy aesthetic of old tape just does something to my brain. Even when a horrible slam or goregrind band does it, I can’t help but enjoy it for the brief moment before I settle back into regretting the life choices that brought me here. But occasionally, like in the cases of Church of Misery or Macabre, a band just shares my obsession and still manages to make good music.
Monument of Misanthropy are also members of that illustrious club. Vile Postmortem Irrumatio is a concept album about Ed Kemper, whose strangely self-reflective and measured persona has led to the development of criminal profiling. MoM play a style of brutal death metal that delves into tech, deathcore and traditional death metal in ways not unlike bands from the Belgian BDM scene. The closest musical relative is likely Aborted, whose unusually palatable take on brutal tech has always left me strangely cold. Monument of Misanthropy, however, manage to pull off the same style with ease and bravado. The band presents a forward momentum not often had by these types of bands, and they know when to linger on a riff and when not to. “Hits One and Two” for example is mostly constructed from one single note riff, which could easily be mistaken for a melodeath riff if not for its vicious intensity. The next track “Manipulating the Experts” begins on such a riff, but is more willing to switch it up with techy, hardcore inspired bdm riffage, but also injecting the track with a more melodic, modern, sweep oriented solo. The band is able to recognize the strength and staying power of each section, which, in a rare showing of skill in the album flow department, even extends to the sound samples. Each sample is chosen with curiosity about Kemper that extends beyond pure sensationalism, resisting the urge to sample from the now famous “Viking Heads” speech. At the risk of sounding pretentious about an album whose main purpose is to provide a soundtrack for flailing around in the pit or headbanging, I cannot help but feel that the samples accomplish building tension and suspense where they would otherwise retract from it. The measured speech of Kemper, reflecting on his crude, barbaric acts of violence serve a contrast to the actual reality of his acts. It might be the nature of Kemper as a serial killer leading to this general vibe, I can’t help but feel that Monument of Misanthropy portrayed Kemper rather well. Monument of Misanthropy is on a shortlist for this years best brutal death metal for me, and it certainly should be on yours, as well.
