Primordial

[Eoin McLove]

I think the stylistic shift began on The Gathering Wilderness. Alan's vocals certainly changed on that one, but the music too in some hard to pin point way. I love that album and I think they fluked out on getting such a raw and dismal production. It's a one off album in some ways, but as I've mentioned earlier in this thread, The Coffin Ships haunted them for a few albums. I wish they hadn't attempted to rewrite that song and left it as a unique oddity*, but sure...

I would love to hear a long, sprawling record like Spirit the Earth Aflame again, with that solemn and powerful singing Alan used to do. No choruses, no concession to the crowd, just dark majesty. Dreaming 

* maybe a "one off ballad" is closer to the mark.

[Black Shepherd Carnage]

We'll see. It'd absolutely be the best time to do it, if closing a final chapter is in the air. That would mean an impending end to live performance too, so no need to appeal directly to that dimension. Not that I think, for me personally, that trend is what didn't work for me about the more recent albums. It was something else. Though maybe related to the implicit sense in which a song written for a crowd is perhaps necessarily going to be less introspective, less broody, and thus less apt for such lyrics and vocal attack. Biting bleak isolation as an aul slán libh, yizzer are on yer own from here on out.

[Eoin McLove]

I can't imagine they would lose their fan base, or much of it, by releasing something more challenging at this point. You can't turn back the clock either which is why I know my hopes will never exactly come to fruition, but I'm sure that they have it in them to maybe reinvent their sound again. Part of what makes the earlier phase of their career (pre- Spirit really) so intriguing to me is the mixture of gloomy doom, black metal and gothic sounds mixed with their Irish trad-ish style. There's quite a lot to draw from. As they progressed they streamlined the sound so much that many of those colours were washed out of the mix. Could we hear them creep back in in some new form? Now that would be interesting. Reining in Alan's high pitched butchery* might be another herculean task, however 

* it works in small doses to be fair.

I also look forward to the Arcane Sun and Geasa reunions. I can't imagine myself thinking that a year ago but I have become a little bit obsessed with Angel's Cry over the past year.

[jobrok1]

I also look forward to the Arcane Sun and Geasa reunions. I can't imagine myself thinking that a year ago but I have become a little bit obsessed with Angel's Cry over the past year.

Are these on the cards?

One offs, or proper reunions?

[Eoin McLove]

I also look forward to the Arcane Sun and Geasa reunions. I can't imagine myself thinking that a year ago but I have become a little bit obsessed with Angel's Cry over the past year.

Are these on the cards?

One offs, or proper reunions?

  just me acting the cunt. Apologies!

[Circlepit]

His high pitched butchery as it's being referred to is one of his things now.
He constantly calls himself a singer in a heavy metal band.
He also loves that drawn out vocal performance that falls in or around the guitar melody being played.
Whilst for me it worked well on TTHD and Redemption he is almost like a fighter that scored a knock out and is hunting for that same killer blow since.

I'll buy whatever they put out next but will it be a dust collector? I still sometimes get lost in The Coffin Ships as it's so powerful.

I wonder if the others in the band long for him to drop the near Hetfieldisms.
They seem to pull the crowds to their sets on the festival circuit so who knows!!

[Eoin McLove]

On a less cynical note it might simply be that that style holds little interest or inspiration for him these days. Either way, it'll at least be interesting to see what comes next with himself hinting towards writing something less tailored to the stage.

[Circlepit]

Has anyone heard his new BM project? Is he the singer or hammering the bass?

[Eoin McLove]

Yes. He plays bass and does vocals.

[Circlepit]

Thanks. Maybe it will spur him onto something wild with Primordial.

[Pagan Saviour]

Alan just released a podcast about To the Nameless Dead. I had it on the other day in the car. I loved it when it came out and it was exciting at the time to see Primordial jump up to another level. I think it still holds up as a strong album in its own right but it set the tone for the following two albums- Redemption and Greater Men...- which saw them get stuck in a creative rut, writing songs for festivals rather than for albums. I ended up with mixed feelings about the album for that reason, but it's hard to argue with some of the songs.

Must check out that podcast, and totally agree with everything you've said there, I rarely if ever revisit those records and my interest in their output waned around then. Exile did something to steer the ship in a better direction though the album is fairly patchy with very few moments that make the hairs on the back of your neck stand as they should listening to a Primordial album.

In his podcast of late Alan has been hinting at the band possibly entering its final years of activity. There seems to be a real sense of disillusion around everything, something most of us can probably connect with after two or more years of Covid lockdowns, the war in Ukraine, imminent recession and whatever other issues are currently causing the world to seem a little more grim these days. The up side is that he appears to be rethinking his approach to writing, his reasons and motivations for doing so, and it makes me think we might get a good dark album from them next. As much as I enjoyed Exile I'm not interested in hearing them repeat that formula; I would much prefer to see them draw from the obscure ends of their earlier material- Storm Before Calm and backwards. What are the chances??

I think the odds of them drawing from the obscure ends of earlier albums are slim, and nor would I want them to do that myself. They are a band that looks forward and I think they still have another great record in them - and there has to be more options musically than drawing from the past or mining the same territory they're currently in.


Going to listen to the podcast now, if the implication is there that the next record might be the last  I'd be ok with that, they've given us some back catalogue!

[jobrok1]

just me acting the cunt. Apologies!

You Prick!!!      

[Pagan Saviour]

Well, the podcast was certainly interesting. Great to hear some of the nuggets about the recording process, surprised to hear that even at that stage on Metal Blade they were still recording without a click track. It's definitely one of many elements that sets them apart, their records are always very natural sounding.

It was slightly more disturbing to hear that they were actually blatantly making a concerted effort to write songs for festivals with big choruses etc - that it was the mindset approaching the material, it may have worked on Nameless the subsequent albums draw from the same formula with less musical substance.

A couple of things made me recall the first interview I ever heard with the band which was on the 2FM metal show with John Kenny around the time of Journey's end, as a youngster everything they said on that interview spoke to me. Journey's End sounded like nothing else I'd heard at the time and the guys were on about forging your own musical path and not reading rubbish mainstream publications like Kerrang. So it's still weird to hear Alan talk about events like Graspop or writing a hit metal song for a festival because all I can think of is seeing the band play in Slattery's, it doesn't matter where I've seen them since - that's my overriding and stand out memory of the band. It was like the time they were looking for votes for some Metal Hammer award, part of me is delighted for them because they deserve every success they've gotten but the youth in me dies a bit. I guess at some stage life enters as a factor for all bands, it's different when you're at the beginning and writing for yourselves. When you've gone up a few levels as Primordial have you want to maintain it and ultimately some aspect of the music gets sacrificed.

The up side is that he appears to be rethinking his approach to writing, his reasons and motivations for doing so

This was encouraging, and I remain hopeful that the next record will truly deliver the goods. They owe us nothing really, as I said earlier it's an incredible back catalogue by anyone's standards.

[Eoin McLove]

All true. I must have heard that interview on the Metal Show because I listened to it religiously but I can't remember it. Maybe I missed it. I'm not sure I'd have loved A Journey's End when it came out because everything I love about it now would have probably made it too difficult and obscure for me to get into back then. But who knows, it might have clicked.

As for your earlier comment about not wanting to see them return to the roots, as it were, I agree with your reasoning. I know it's impossible for them to recapture that same vibe for many reasons, not least of all because they are more competent musicians now than they were, but that said, I would love to hear some of the earlier elements that were faded out post-Storm Before Calm creep back in in some new way. They are probably all still there already, I'm just hearing too much other new elements in the mix to notice 

[Don Gately]

Lads ye know more about Primordial than I'll ever know but I think for the nameless dead is great. The gathering wilderness tops it for Mr though.