UK death metal trailblazers, VENOM PRISON, have today released their new album, Primeval – available here. Featuring 11 songs in total, the release features re-recordings of tracks from both of their early EPs, Defy The Tyrant and The Primal Chaos, accompanied with two brand new tracks. Revisiting and paying respect to their past whilst also looking ambitiously forward, Primeval effortlessly retains all of the technical prowess and dizzying musicianship of their old material and then some. Watch the band’s music video for their new track, ‘Slayer of Holofernes’ above.
Of the release, the band comment: “We are proud to share Primeval with the world, the end of an era and the start of a new chapter for the band’s life. The essence of this release was to look back on our earlier days, reflecting on where it all started and giving new life to what these songs deserved from the start. Primeval consists of demo Defy The Tyrant (2015) & EP The Primal Chaos (2015) with 2 additional brand new songs which hint where the bands future may lay.”
In a positive review of the album, The Guardian said,”As ever with VENOM PRISON, it’s disgust rather than titillation that drives their sound – Primeval is blistering death metal rooted in the horror of everyday violence and injustice.” Elsewhere, Metal Hammer also praised the release, concluding,”…while VENOM PRISON’s past is exhilarating, their future looks like it will be even more exciting.”
Since 2016, VENOM PRISON have gone from strength to strength; debut full length Animus catapulted them into the consciousness and record collections of discerning death metal fans the world over. Their follow up release, Samsara, solidified them as a serious force to be reckoned with in the world of metal, paving the way for a string of high profile shows and festival slots around the globe. On Primeval, VENOM PRISON revisit the earliest days of the band, capturing the same intensity and visceral energy they possessed from day one and adding an additional layer of sophistication to their sound by re-recording, re-mixing and re-mastering those old favourites with producer Tom Dring in late 2019. Artwork is once again handled masterfully by Eliran Kantor.
