The sonic shift from the 80s to the 90s: Review of Priest’s EP “Chaos EP”

Just one year after the release of their current fourth studio album “Dark Pulse” (The corresponding album review can be read here), Priest surprised with the announcement of a brand new EP, entitled “Chaos EP”, which was released two weeks ago, on 20 June 2025, via Blue Nine Records. On the one hand, that’s good news, because new material from a favourite band is always welcome. On the other hand, it also makes one feel wistful, precisely because “Dark Pulse” came out only a year ago, and it feels like it should have made more waves before something new comes along. And last but not least, it was announced that the release of “Chaos EP” would also mark “the end of an era”, after it had already been mentioned some months earlier that the whole project would be rebooted. Priest have undergone changes in the past. They are not a band that stands still because, as we all know, stagnation is death. And yet, there is a slight sense of uncertainty: The line-up, the music, the stage show… It’s perfect as it is and shouldn’t be changed. One has even gotten used to the black leather masks of the anonymous trio, which partly consists of former band members of the Swedish rock heavyweights Ghost. Only time will tell whether the new direction will be for better or for worse. But for now, it’s time to give the new EP by the Swedish dark 80s style synth-pop band a listen…

The first taste of “Chaos EP” came out in May 2025 with track number 2, “My Lonely Heart“. Under the accompanying music video on YouTube, someone commented: “1st listen: ‘wtf??!?’ 20th listen: ‘in my lonely heaAaAart'”. I wouldn’t express my initial thought quite as drastically, but at first, I did think of “Black Venom” – more precisely, a mix of the original (partly due to the similar use of female vocals) and the Rhys Fulber Remix (because of the comparable danceability) – except that “My Lonely Heart” did not make as strong an impression on me as “Black Venom” did over a year ago. After just one listen and a whole day later, it happened, though: Somehow, the “gothic dance track for the heartbroken” had crept into my mind, and perhaps that is, amongst other things, what defines Priest‘s musicianship; the ability to compose music that gets stuck in one’s head and grows. And let me tell you this much: The second part of the aforementioned YouTube comment turns out to be pretty accurate.

The second single and opener of “Chaos EP”, “World On A Wire“, is a completely different story: Already the first few notes make one think of the Hollywood movie “The Matrix”, more precisely its soundtrack and the gravity-defying action scenes featuring Neo and Trinity, to which “World On A Wire” would have been a perfect musical fit. Basically, “World On A Wire” is for “Chaos EP” what “Burning Love” was for “Dark Pulse”: An instant hit, very catchy and the perfect choice as the EP’s opener. It’s cool, it’s beautiful and, in my humble opinion, it’s also the best song on the EP. And if one listens to the two singles as they appear on the EP – that is, first “World On A Wire” and then “My Lonely Heart” – the latter somehow works better in this sequence.

Track number three, “Nukeface“, is the first real new song that the listener gets to hear on this EP, as it has not been released as a single or performed live beforehand. A dancefloor stomper that surprises with political lyrics (“All hail the mushroom cloud!”). Or as Priest themselves put it: “Darkly humorous and rhythmically charged, Nukeface is as thought-provoking as it is danceable.”

The fourth and final track was the most anticipated on this EP among many Priest fans: “Tria Prima III“. While I can certainly appreciate minimalist ambient tracks like “Tria Prima“, the significantly darker ambient industrial sound of “Tria Prima II” holds a special place in my heart. The almost twelve-minute-long “Tria Prima III” sounds noticeably lighter again: Dancey, not dark. At least at the beginning. From the fifth minute onwards, the soundscape begins to shift. By the seventh, the ending is audibly set in motion. It intensifies around the ninth minute, and by the tenth, the technical components begin to flicker and fail. It sounds… tragic, because it echoes what is depicted on the EP’s cover, illustrated by the Swedish tattoo artist Johannes Streith: Mercury’s demise (and inevitable disappearance into the digital abyss). The end of an era. The end of this version of Priest vocalist Mercury. What began with the opener of their third studio album “Body Machine”, “A Signal In The Noise“, now falls silent at the end of “Tria Prima III“.

To be honest, I’m not ready for this ending yet, which probably also stems from the fact that I only discovered Priest in December 2023, making the ending feel sudden and unexpected. Furthermore, the concept of a cyborg-like front figure seems more relevant than ever. But “Chaos EP” – another collaboration with producer Simon Söderberg, who, like Mercury and keyboardist Salt, was active in Ghost – is not only the closing of a chapter but also a hint of “what’s to come next”: “90’s Big Beat”, with the likes of The Prodigy cited as sources of inspiration. With “World On A Wire“, amongst other tracks, Priest prove that they can pull off this sound as well. The big question is how far they will move away from their 80s-tinged synth-pop, which is undoubtedly one of their greatest strengths. But perhaps Priest are once again just ahead of their time, ready to expand their fan base to include those who share the nostalgia for the sound of the 1990s. That would be a smart strategy for a band that has long been known for another strength: Versatility.

Tracklist:
01 World On A Wire
02 My Lonely Heart
03 Nukeface
04 Tria Prima III