Primeval: Obsession // Detachment finds Tallah at their most feral and fearless yet, recorded live, dripping with tension, and bursting through genre boundaries with a lineup built for beautiful destruction.
On their third album, Primeval: Obsession // Detachment, Pennsylvania's Tallah dial up the chaos and dive headfirst into the unknown. Recorded entirely live with producer Josh Schroeder in Michigan, the result is a jagged, combustible slab of genre-scorched metal that captures Tallah exactly as they are: raw, unpredictable, and completely unrestrained.
From the beginning, Tallah have thrived on tension, between control and chaos, structure and noise. Here, they toss the rulebook and embrace their strangest, most experimental instincts. “No rules were set,” says bassist Max Portnoy (son of Dream Theater's Mike Portnoy), who shifted from drums to bass for this record. “We recorded every instrument at the same time, with no click. It’s weird. It’s driving. It’s us.” Portnoy’s shift to bass, drawing from his rhythmic foundation, brings a fresh surge of low-end power to the band’s sound.
The current lineup is its most volatile yet. Justin Bonitz leads the charge with his trademark vocal whiplash, balancing unhinged screams and theatrical delivery. Derrick Schneider (lead guitar, backing vocals) and Alex Snowden (rhythm guitar) trade jagged riffs with razor-sharp precision, while newcomer Joel McDonald brings a brutal clarity behind the drum kit. Ivan Little adds a dose of unfiltered chaos with turntables, samples, and keyboards — his first appearance on a Tallah release.
As with 2020’s Matriphagy and 2022’s The Generation of Danger, Primeval is a concept album, only this time, the band heads to a mysterious alien world. The story centers around Ana, a nurse, and Sheelah, an assassin, each approached by shadowy beings with tasks that test their values, beliefs, and sense of self. “It’s a story about morality, duality, and figuring out your place when everything is on the line,” Bonitz says.
Unfolding with breakneck energy and cinematic depth, Primeval: Obsession // Detachment feels less like a record and more like a controlled detonation. With no genre constraints, no studio tricks, and no apologies, Tallah sound like they’re tearing the walls down around them. And they’re daring you to stand close when they do.