Venom Prison first pummeled the jugular of the underground with their self released demo Defy The Tyrant in 2015 shortly followed by The Primal Chaos.  Described as ‘a buzz that began as a whisper now as incessant as a swarm of wasps inches from your eardrum,’ Venom Prison  unleashed their debut LP on Prosthetic Records.
Having shared the stage with bands such as Hatebreed, Anaal Nathrakh, Full of Hell, Dragged Into Sunlight, The Black Dahlia Murder, Between the Buried and Me and more, the five piece deliver grinding death metal that makes most landslides look lightweight.  In short, VP is razor sharp and ready to sink its teeth in.
Ghettoblaster recently caught up with Venom Prison to discuss the teeth-bared albums they enjoyed in 2016.
Nick Cave & The Badseeds – Skeleton Tree – In all its hauntingly beautiful glory. Nick Cave understandably has lots to write about recently. This is up there with his finest work
Haymaker – JUNIOR BRUCE Endless Descent – First full length in a few years. Haymaker aren’t ever going to reinvent the wheel, but they have a perfect formula and stick to it. Still the hardest band in Canada. Fast, crusty, heavy and lyrics about how shit the world is. FFO: Chokehold, Left For Dead, killing your boss.
Rotten Sound – Abuse To Suffer – Best grind record of 2016. Probably the most interesting release that they have put out since Exit. The slower, more melodic bits (examples: “Yellow Pain” and “Machine”) make this record. They go full Insect Warfare sometimes which is always a good thing. FFO: Insect Warfare, Pig Destroyer, HM2 pedals and blast beats.
ANOHNI – Hopelessness – The Trinity Of Anohni – Hudson Mohawke and Oneohtrix Point Never was always going to be something special. The Instrumentals seamlessly drift from serene synth passages to distorted electronica to noisy drones to heavy drum patterns. Anohni’s lyrics cover subjects ranging from Drone Bombing, the internet, The current American government and the environment amongst others, all delivered with her trademark powerful but fragile vocal delivery. Sonically and lyrically, this is a very powerful and flawless record.
The Body – No One Deserves Hapiness – The Body always find new and interesting ways to display absolute negativity, which each successive record sounding different but still having the same brutal and reductionist approach. They slide from epic doom to what can only be described as apocalyptic trap beats, all underpinned with the classic howling vocals and almost relentless noise. This record is fucking horrible. 18/10 masterpiece.
Ringworm – Snake Church – Clevo lords have put forth another record of brilliantly written songs. They have definitely pushed things forward from Hammer Of The Witch, by which I mean there’s more cool riffs (somehow), more solos and generally just more of Ringworm displaying they are one of the best bands of this nature.
Swans – The Glowing Man – This record, possibly their last, manages to marry together the weird ambient of mid-90s swans (White Light, Life Of Love, Soundtracks For The Blind) with the more expansive loudness they’ve displayed on the last few releases. Constantly evolving and mutating whilst following regimented ideas, it’s a fitting swansong (sorry) for a band who’ve always been pushing the boundaries with their output.
Korpse – Unethical – This record just obliterates your ear drums in a good way of course. Slam after slam without getting boring. Spotted some cool lyrical content in songs as well.
The Infernal Sea – The Great Morality – Well I personally have only just discovered this band a couple months back, how stupid am I? What an incredible black metal album, the way this album keeps you hooked with all the elements/changes thrown in that keep you wanting more. Black metal done well is so important.
Trap Them – Crown Feral – Touring with them whilst the album has just come out gives me a great insight to way I like this album a lot. Dark hardcore punk with blends of sludge riffs/ a strong older converge vibe in my opinion, this gets justified even more live with the atmosphere they create.
(Visit Venom Prison here: https://www.facebook.com/venomprison/.)