EP Review: Prompts – Parasite Dream (Greyscale Records / Papercut Records)

Japan-based metalcore outfit Prompts will release their new EP, ‘Parasite Dream’ on June 16th via Greyscale Records in partnership with Papercut Records (US).

There can be no excuse for being unfamiliar with the tracks on this EP, considering most of them have already been released over the past few years. Featuring the likes of Death of Me, Deceiver, Edgerunner, Sun Eater, and Stranger. I’m not complaining, just pointing it out. I think these tracks are banging, and hearing them again as part of a package, is welcome.

This is metalcore, but it’s metalcore with the potential and determination to bust heads. All courtesy of a band filled with venomous intensity, but also a band able to take their sound in more melodic directions. Before you’ve even had a chance to take a breath, you’ve been hit by bangers like Sun Eater, Edgerunner, and Drowning. Prompts sound possessed by some demonic force and are attempting to expel it here via the medium of noisy metal. Yet, what really makes things notable is that, in an instant, things shift to be more accessible and catchier. Which might sound like ‘metalcore 101’ but trust me, Prompts are leaning way more towards the heavier and wilder side of things.

Still not sure if it’s for you? I think Deceiver will go a long way to convincing doubters. One mighty heavy effort that leans more towards deathcore, albeit one with Prompts’ innate ability to twist melody around intense sounds. The track comes in stages, delivering varied levels of brutality, and leaving such a strong impression. I love it.

I also love Stranger, which just so happens to feature the talent of Landon Tewers of The Plot in You and be a blistering explosion of metalcore noise that is as heavy as it is anthemic, and trust me, it’s stupidly anthemic. The verses are mental, the chorus soars, the breakdown is class, and the final part of the track adds a whole new dimension to it.

Finally, we have Weirdo and Death of Me. Both showcasing a bit more melodrama and experimental alternative metal elements, and both sounding as inspired as everything that came before.

This is the stuff that elevates the genre and the scene. Prompts at their absolute best.

Prompts – Parasite Dream Track Listing:

1. Sun Eater
2. Edgerunner
3. Drowning
4. Deceiver
5. Stranger (feat. Landon Tewers of The Plot in You)
6. Weirdo
7. Death of Me

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