I suspect this Argentinean outfit chose their name based on its virus connotations rather than the bird reference but maybe due to the origin of the word from Greek meaning saw. However no matter what reason behind the moniker one can’t deny the sledge hammering bombardment this band has pulled off with their third release and first since 2008 discounting the multi-split from 2011. The band is new to me but having listened to this utterly punishing yet deftly melodic album they are on my buy ASAP list. Basing their bludgeoning on the likes of established players like Hate Eternal and Morbid Angel can be treacherous as far too often bands dissolve into mediocrity by way of rehashed riffs and arrangements. Whilst Prion can be quite easily lumped into the Hate Eternal category they do have a few tricks in their armoury.
Opening with the ear battering “Power Obsessed” one is flung into a seething maelstrom of double kick blast as good as any I’ve heard in recent years. The drum sound is gargantuan possessing seismic potency with every snare hit and kick drum annihilation. Sporadic injections of pace aid in sectioning the song into digestible chunks of deathly gristle. The speed of this release can be understated when you have a plethora of tech and brutal death metal bands playing at a hypersonic mach that often leaves me with a sterile feeling, but Prion use the speed to add texture and obliterating ferocity to their song writing. The title track offers a contrast to the opener, being slower marginally and distinctly melodic in its initial phase. As expected the blasting speed is added whilst the riff retains an air of arrogance as though the drums are like a hyperactive child wanting more and more. When the pace is dropped you can hear Morbid Angel from the “Formulas Fatal To the Flesh” and “Domination” eras. Into “Chronic Disease” and the velocity hits the upper echelons of dementedness and it is that barraging speed that is very Hate Eternal like.
Technically adept the band has managed to weave destructive maniacal speed within slower more thoughtful passages that wouldn’t be too far off being likened to Immolation something that “Anhedonist” proves. I am a total sucker for productions that emphasise the drum sound so magnificently as this does, the sheer density and pulverising it offers make this release stand out so much in the wealth of death metal I hear every month. Managing to adjust the speed so that it avoids being a blurring cacophony is not easy but Prion carve deep gouges with fingerprint uniqueness into their songs making each identifiable something that true death metal has always done. The barbarity of “End Is Near” is unrivalled on the release and similar to Hate Eternal’s “Dethroned” song from their debut, unmitigated sonic bedlam yet with plenty of twists and turns.
Possibly the most distinctive tune is “Doomed Humanity Of Horror” with its distinctly thrash based riff but with high velocity blasting akin to Deathchain. The insanely fast components are offered frictional tempering by the assailing double bass and some fine hooks and leads. Closing the release is “Never Let Me Down Again” three minutes of total Armageddon from start to finish only pausing for subtle teases in the riffing before stamping hard on the gas and leaving the rest in a cloud of auditory dust; fabulous album and one that every death metaller should at least hear as once you do you will be hit by some unparalleled thundering proper death metal.
(8.5/10 Martin Harris)
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