Album Review: Venom Prison – Erebos

Venom Prison’s newest album since 2020

On February 4^th, Venom Prison released their fourth album Erebos to the public. Venom Prison is a Welsh death metal band that has not been around for long but has found a great deal of success in just 7 years.

Venom Prison was first started in 2015 by former Wolf Down vocalist Larissa Stupar and guitarist Ash Gray of the group Brutality Will Prevail. The two started writing music together and eventually formed Venom Prison, looking to find the most metalcore name imaginable. Venom Prison eventually added more members to the band, got to making music and quickly found success.

Venom Prison’s first album Animus was released in 2016 and was well received amongst critics and general listeners. In 2017, Venom Prison won the Metal Hammer Golden Gods award for Best New Metal Band as reported by Metal Injection. Venom Prison has toured across Europe with fellow metal groups Dying Fetus, Toxic Holocaust and Goatwhore. In 2019, they collaborated with American-based streetwear company The Hundreds.

Venom Prison currently consists of five members. Along with Stupar and Gray, Ben Thomas is also featured as a guitarist, Mike Jefferies is at bass and Joe Bills is on drums. These five members were able to create Erebos, and to say they succeeded would be an understatement.

Erebos thrives with its instrumentals. They are fast-paced and balance the use of the guitars and drums exceptionally well. In “Nemesis” for example, the guitars and drums are balanced equally, but some sections feature one over the other. By either slowing down the pace or speeding it up, these features add a refreshing sense to the song.

In addition to the instrumentals, Erebos also has exceptional vocals. The vocals fit perfectly with the fast-paced musical lines and seamlessly switch tones within songs. In “Pain of Oizys,” a slower-paced song on the album, the vocals are mostly softer in tone but pick up to that of fast-paced death metal once the track speeds up.

All in all, Erebos is another fantastic addition to Venom Prison’s early works and already successful resume. The instrumentals flow perfectly into each other while still changing from song to song, which keeps the music fresh and enjoyable for the listener. The vocals stream effortlessly within the quick and energetic tracks, giving off death metal vibes all throughout the album.

Both old and new metal fans will appreciate the metal core energy presented throughout Erebos because of its unapologetically fast musicianship and vocals. Erebos is not only an excellent listen for metal-heads, but also a great introductory to those who wish to get into the genre.