Richmond’s Prisoner have shared “Leaden Tomb,” the lead single from their second album, Putrid|Obsolete. Combining elements of death metal, doom, crust, and industrial, the long-player is due out on March 15th via Persistent Vision Records. Head into the article below to catch the new video and read more from Prisoner.
Pre-order Putrid|Obsolete here.
All three of Prisoner’s vocalists – Rozsa, Hast, and guitarist Dan Finn – contributed lyrics to Putrid | Obsolete, whose overarching theme is “the horrific failure of humanity,” in Rozsa’s words. He gives this statement about the meaning behind first single “Leaden Tomb”: “At this point we are more than a few steps into a dystopian collapse. Technocracy, capitalism, war, and human beings’ general hatred toward each other has put most of us into a defeating cycle while some centralize wealth and power. We have also built up our technology in certain ways that serve to perpetuate this cycle. ‘Leaden Tomb’ is specifically inspired by the collapse of the environment, caused by uncontrolled capitalism and the short-term desires of the ruling class poisoning the earth.”
Putrid | Obsolete was produced by the same team that worked on Prisoner’s debut, Beyond the Infinite – recorded and mixed by Ricky Olson (.gif from god, Enforced) and mastered by Brad Boatright (Nails, Body Void) – and yet, seven years down the line, the sound that these two have summoned is exponentially more earthquaking than what came before. Also contributing to the immensity of the new recording is newest member Adam Lake, who makes his recorded debut with Prisoner here and helps elevate the band’s industrial and noise facets to a central position within the mix. Guitarist/vocalist Pete Rozsa states: “Before Adam was in the band, Justin (Hast, bassist) and I would have a few synths on stage and would play samples over top of a few songs. We decided we would benefit more from a full-time member committed to samples, programming, and synthesizer, and Adam filled that role perfectly.”
More from Prisoner:
Formed in Richmond in 2012, Prisoner first made its mark in 2017 with the release of Beyond the Infinite, via Forcefield Records (Inter Arma, Yautja). Seven years later, Prisoner has delivered Putrid | Obsolete, a monstrous new beast that carries that marriage of “extreme metal and noise” to new depths. On first single “Leaden Tomb,” an industrial intro sets the stage for a death metal/crust punk stampede that leads to a free fall off a sludge-doom cliff. Sheets of electronics lace the track from start to finish, intensifying the experience into something all-consuming. Across all eight of Putrid | Obsolete‘s tracks, shades of Godflesh, Neurosis, and Napalm Death interweave into a nightmarish web of analog and digital punishment that fully captivates. With a decade’s worth of shows under its belt, playing with the likes of Full of Hell and Windhand, Prisoner embarks on an East Coast tour with Listless in March. Prisoner’s Putrid | Obsolete kicks off a year’s worth of crucial releases from Persistent Vision Records, the new, Richmond-based label owned by Paul Hansbarger, whose former label, Perpetual Motion Machine, released music in the ‘00s by such greats as Pageninetynine, Thou, and Kowloon Walled City.