With their gleefully hardcore, socially astute take on death metal, Venom Prison have been responsible for some of the most energising extreme music of recent years. Musically aligned with the more melodic end of death metal (think Carcass or At the Gates) alongside a grinding hardcore influence, the Welsh band on their 2016 debut Animus comprehensively subverted the genre’s predilection for violent misogyny with songs like Perpetrator Emasculation. On 2019’s Samsara, vocalist Larissa Stupar covered issues such as forced surrogacy (Uterine Industrialisation), gaslighting abuse (Sadistic Rituals) and the perils of internet status obsession (Asura’s Realm) with her perfectly pitched guttural delivery, cutting through the layers of adrenalised riffs.
On Primeval, the Welsh band look back to their earliest material, re-recording – and considerably beefing-up – caustic gear from their two 2015 EP releases, Defy the Tyrant and The Primal Chaos. Examining the violent legacy of colonialism in the name of religious superiority, the track Defy the Tyrant exudes sheer hardcore energy, twin guitars mathematically chugging against blast beats while Babylon the Whore moves between swaggering groove and crusty grind. The Primal Chaos has shades of vintage Slayer and cranky black metal alike, while two new songs – Defiant to the Will of God and Slayer of Holofernes – point toward a stronger sense of melodic dynamism amid the aggression, particularly on the former. 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.
