Biography
Prime Evil is an Extreme Metal band from New York, started in the late spring of 1984, going under several names until landing on their name in January of 1986. Vocalist Andy Eichhorn adapted the word primeval, meaning ancient, into Prime Evil to signify the ultimate evil; mankind. The band’s lyrical content depicts the true, real, pure evil of mankind and humanity.
Prime Evil came up in the New York underground ranks with the likes of Demolition Hammer, Immolation, Cannibal Corpse, Deicide, Ripping Corpse, Malevolent Creation, Cynic, Suffocation, Incantation, Revenant, Mortician, Morpheus Descends, Winter, and Deceased. They played all over the Northeast circuit – in NYC and the surrounding areas, NJ, CT, Washington DC, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Buffalo, and Boston.
Prime Evil played hundreds of venues and clubs including CBGB’s, L’amour, The Marquee, Sundance, World Stage, The Sky Room, and others, opening for national acts like Death, Dark Angel, Sepultura, Morbid Angel, Carcass, Obituary, Sacred Reich, M.O.D., Death Angel, Forbidden, Devastation, Cro-Mags, Murphy‟s Law, Brutal Truth, Watchtower, and more.
The band recorded three demo tapes between 1987 and 1990, and released the “Terminal Dementia” 7-inch on blood red vinyl on Rage Records in 1992. It received extensive radio play and was on the CMJ Loud 100 charts for months. Prime Evil disbanded in July of 1992. Guitarist Mike Usifer joined Demolition Hammer and bassist Mary Ciullo went on to later join Incantation.
In 2010, the documentary book Glorious Times (Brian Pattison RIP and Alan Moses) was published, in which Prime Evil are one of the featured bands, and it became the catalyst for the reformation of the band. Prime Evil played two shows in 2011, including The Metal Suckfest at The Gramercy in NYC, before recording the “Evilution” EP that was released on July 27th, 2012 on INFERNO Records. Upon its release, the band toured and performed incessantly, promoting “Evilution” until entering the studio on January 13th, 2014 to record their debut full-length studio album, “Blood Curse Resurrection”, released on INFERNO Records on June 20th, 2015.
On May 19th, 2017, Prime Evil released a compilation of their demos from 1987 to 1990, entitled “Underground Origins”, on FLOGA Records. That was followed by a remixed video single of “Soul Shattered” in 2020.
Prime Evil’s latest release is entitled “Evilution X”, to celebrate the 10 year anniversary of the “Evilution” EP. The songs from the original EP were re-recorded, along with new recordings of “Kill For Me” and “Terminal Dementia”. The EP was produced, mixed, and mastered by Mike Usifer, and was released on CDN Records on April 26th, 2024.
Prime Evil are currently working on new material for their next album.
