Venom Prison - Primeval

 

Key Facts

Country: 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿

Genre: Death Metal/Hardcore

Release Date: 9th October 2020

Record Label(s): Prosthetic Records

Band Members

Ash Gray - Guitars 

Larissa Stupar - Vocals

Mike Jefferies - Bass

Ben Thomas - Guitars 

Joe Bills - Drums 

Venom Prison - Slayer Of Holofernus 

Review

Rating (out of 5🤘): 🤘🤘🤘🤘.5

Favourite Track(s): Usurper Of The Throne, Defy The Tyrant, Slayer Of Holofernes, Life Suffer, Mortal Abomination, Defiant To The Will Of God

Considering that the band only released their sophomore album last year, and have now released a fully re-recorded and mixed compilation of their first two EPs alongside two new songs, this is a grind effort that we are all aspiring to! Venom Prison have blazed a trail in UK and global extreme music, tackling subject matter the few are brave enough to address and doing so with brutal riffs fusing death metal and hardcore effortlessly. Primeval takes the listener back to witness the initial force that underpinned the band’s meteoric  momentum and demonstrates the unquenchable thirst that Venom Prison have to continue to grow and evolve, even in the most turbulent of times. This is a a marked milestone, as band's that are this young are still trying to find what their sound is, but none have cemented their place, and become considered as heavyweights, better and more brutally in the scene than Venom Prison. What get's me excited is this quote from the band whilst sharing the video for the crushing new song Slayer Of Holofernes, "the end of an era and the start of a new chapter for the band's life." (Venom Prison, 2020) and what a way to see out an era!

Musically, going into this I already new how hard the riffs hit from the first two EPs. I'm a massive fan of Venom Prison's earlier stuff as the band's sound was unlike anything that I have ever heard before, blending a variety of different death metal sub-genres alongside hardcore breakdowns, it was always going to be a winner in my book. With that in mind, it has been awesome to see the band evolve and grow at the rate they have, as many of you know I was blown away by 2019's Samsara. Revisiting these EPs under a new light and from a new perspective the potent disgust and raw brutality has been amplified to the extreme. As for the two new songs, there is definitely and evolution going on in the Venom Prison camp, bring more technicality and a more melodic direction, something the band started to establish on Samsara but through both new songs; Defiant To The Will Of God and Slayer Of Holofernes, this is definitely the goal in mind. Whilst the more sound of chunky riffs and blast beats are the basis for the songs, there is something more atmospheric about the newer sound. This is shown more so in the chorus of Slayer Of Holofernes, but  Defiant To The Will Of God has its own atmospheric segment. With all this in mind, I'm looking forward to the next album the band put out, Primeval serves as one of the biggest hype pieces ever from my perspective, as the newer sound is absolutely killer and a testament to how hard the band are working. Overall, this climactic compilation really does feel like the end of an era, but in the best way possible, as always Venom Prison are firmly seated at the top of my must watch list.

The biggest change to these songs comes from a production standpoint. The freshly re-recorded and produced versions are far superior to their original mixes 2015. Primeval showcases the songs in a way that I think they were originally meant to sound, the riffs sound so much bigger and weighty, crushing my skull from both sides as if my head was in a vice. With the cleaner production, you can hear the musical versatility of everyone in the band with devastating clarity. The guitar tones have had a major overhaul and are much more representative of the band's overall sound that can be heard on both 2016's Animus and 2019's Samsara. Thicker and beefier, but both tones are distinctly unique in sound, which is not something I hear often, which is a refreshing change. The rhythm tones carry most of the bulk and envelope you in the mid-range, whilst the bass pins them down in the low end with a noticeably deep tone. Locking in with the kick to really fill that low end, the rumble of the bass has to be my favourite "update" if you will. The kick has a great click sound mixed in with the bludgeoning bass sound and the snare snaps through the mix so much better than in 2015. Larissa's vocals sound phenomenal on the re-recorded and new material and take centre stage, you can hear the devastating viciousness in her voice and how it has evolved over the last five years. With the inclusion of the more atmospheric, melodic cleans on the new songs it offers an awesome contrast and shows how hard the band are working to evolve their already distinguished and unique sound. Overall, the whole album sounds bigger, better and more ruthless, this feels like a truer representation of those songs from yesteryear. 

I've been a big fan of Venom Prison from the moment I started listening to them, I love how far they've come and where they're going in the future. So, join me and revel in the brutality of Primeval, whilst eagerly anticipating what's next! 

Venom Prison - Primeval 

References

Venom Prison, (9th October 2020), Slayer of Holofernes Video Premier Tweet, Twitter, https://twitter.com/Venomprison/status/1314452159614849026