Venom Prison "Primeval" Review
The Welsh death metal giants attempt to reinvent the wheels on their sonic war machine.
Let’s just get this out of the way first: I have been absolutely thrilled with everything Venom Prison have put out thus far, and I’m going to try not to gush, but that being said, I’m also not going to promise anything because this group seems to knock it out of the park with every single release. Though their sound has matured through the years (hence this rerelease of newly recorded old material plus two new tracks) I have never found anything to dislike about the band’s direction, whether artistically or sonically. And I feel I can tell you, dear reader, that this compilation album is no exception.
My first exposure to the band came with their first full-length, Animus, which had a lot to say for a group so newly-formed (although still hot on the heels of two prior EPs). The album came screaming onto the scene with a very raw but well-articulated sound, the basis of what would make their sophomore effort Samsara so heavily anticipated. The group walks a thin knife edge between death metal and deathcore but the marriage of the two genres is executed so seamlessly that it’s difficult to name many contemporaries that are capable of crafting releases that are equally as harmonious. With two great EPs and an even better full-length under their belts, the stage was set for Samsara to launch Venom Prison into the deathcore stratosphere.
And launch them it did.
Samsara could have gone many ways for a group with such a heavy burden to bear at such a critical point in its lifespan. Many a band have turned in a complete clunker of a second outing, leaving them to fall flat on their faces like a 12 year old attempting to land their first kickflip. But the quintet Tony Hawk’d their way into truly impressing those other critics who like to give out grades or assign numbers to the albums they review (not that there’s anything wrong with that...). And for good reason. There are so many great ideas present that you almost find yourself wishing it was slightly longer, but not to the point that it feels underdeveloped. Larissa Stupar, the group’s vocalist, clearly has a knack not only for laying down fantastically genuine and emotional vocal performances but also writing about subject matter that clearly comes from an inspired and personal place. Ash Gray and Ben Thomas are the technical wizards behind the main fretwork, never seeming to run out of riff ideas that balance sophistication in songwriting with aggression and punch. Mike Jefferies carries the complex basslines with ease, constructing a wonderfully realized backing tone that complements the leads superbly. And lastly on the drums, though the band has stayed with a mostly consistent lineup from 2015 to now, drumming duties have been juggled around a bit, with Jay Pipprell dutifully handling the sticks for Samsara but Joe Bills joining them most recently for Primeval. Now, Samsara was not a perfect record by any means; the production was lacking in places, and at a few moments the composition was reaching the point of oversaturation, with every instrument firing on all cylinders. But the record had heart, and showed a clear evolution in sound from previous releases. So where, you might be asking, does this release land us on our evolutionary scale?
For an album full of material I had already technically heard, Primeval feels a long way from déjà vu. Whereas Samsara is filled to the brim with deeply hostile attitude and a chaotic air, Primeval brings to the table something a little more immature, but also more fun in that sense. In the early EPs, Venom Prison were just learning to find their niche, though there were certainly signs of the band to come. The writing was more straightforward and smacked of a deathcore sentiment more so than straight death metal. Back then, the group seemed more identifiable, a band you could see at a local dive bar but you still wondered how someone so talented hadn’t broken their way out of your podunk town yet. Fast forward about 5-6 years, and the same material could not possibly be presented in the same way. Take, for example, Larissa’s vocals: in 2014, sounding like a pissed-off misanthrope looking to point a middle finger in the face of every scumbag who dared to get within 20 feet. Fast forward to today, and she sounds like a savage demon that had been drafted into the skeleton war as an aircraft gunner in the 666th Burning Tar Pits Division. This is extremely evident on the standout track “Defy the Tyrant”, where on the original EP her voice sounds very isolated, one woman with a microphone and a message to deliver. Now it seems like the vocals rise up from the earth with a spectral air with multiple vocal takes shrieking in concert, obviously a trick of production but it’s not as if the live performances suffer as a result, given her gusto behind the microphone. The group has taken a drastic jump in quality in this time, but it’s not a knock on those older EPs, because they just were after a different sound. To put it plainly, this may mostly consist of repackaged older material, but the delivery method has been vastly improved and streamlined. Think two-day arrival versus a 30-day ship with no tracking number (but with some badass stickers stuck to the outside of the box!).
Venom Prison’s writing has progressed in spades through the years and this is immediately evident upon hearing the final two tracks which are completely new material. Even though the tracks from the older EPs have been tweaked in structure slightly, it’s still clear that the ideas behind them sound a bit dated in retrospect. Now, the band writes better transitions, incorporates more progressive elements, and just has a stronger voice as a whole. Take for example the album opener, “Usurper Of The Throne” off of their first EP, Defy the Tyrant. Bone-crushing guitar tone? Check. Wildly aggressive vocals? Check. Laser-precise drumming? Check. Notice I didn’t specify which version, new or old, I was referring to here. That’s because these qualities could definitely be spoken of either, that’s why they’ve reached the point that they have in their career: they make great music. But when you compare with the absolutely massive closer “Slayer of Holofernes”, I mean, let’s be real here: this song has it all, I mean there’s so much variation in tempo, the fills are superb, the leads and bass unite to form a stampeding mob of sound (pitchforks and all), and not only are the vocals delightfully demonic as usual, there’s even clean singing as accompaniment! There has been a large leap in quality through the years and it’s hard not to be excited about what’s to come next for them. But I can say there are a few elements of the older tracks that I particularly enjoy, including the sample of “In Heaven (Lady in the Radiator Song)” from David Lynch’s Eraserhead on “Life Suffer” which I’m happy to say made it to the new album because it fits in perfectly. “Mortal Abomination” also benefited greatly from the re-record, as the relatively muddy production is now just a memory lost among the soul-purifying clean opening which builds an unrelenting energy, only to be released on a downhill slide of muted stabs and a slow static fadeout. The two pre-released singles from the album, “Defy the Tyrant” and “Daemon Vulgaris” are the standouts among the older stuff, likely because they carry the most upbeat guitar sections and aggression. The isolated bark at ~3:04 of “Daemon” is fantastically otherworldly and sounds great here compared to on their second EP The Primal Chaos. All in all, it’s this kind of uncompromising brutality that made this band who they are, so regardless if the material is new or old, it seems as if they have locked their sights on an extremely consistent and effective sound, making myself and I’m sure other listeners anxious for them to launch another 120mm shell of an album through our ears.
Primeval is available on all streaming services, including the Venom Prison Bandcamp. Listen here:
-Ryan
Artwork by Eliran Kantor
Note: Larissa’s penchant for documenting the quintet’s
experiences in recording and touring also gives listeners like you and me the
chance to see what life is like inside their hectic lives and it’s all the more
grounding as a result. When hearing what gets put to record, it’s difficult to
think of the inhuman-sounding instrumentation actively being written and
recorded by a group of individuals that can be tired of the constant grind
behind these projects. But we see them behind Larissa’s lens with their
thoughts and emotions laid bare, which I think is important for musicians given
the pressures put on them (“the show must go on”, as they say), and I have to
respect the effort behind putting footage like that together in addition to the
work put in to create such monumental releases. Links below from the Venom Prison YouTube:
Glitch - Mental Health and Touring Musicians Documentary
2019 North American Tour Part 1
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