Primordial

[livingabortion]

I'm enjoying his podcasts, they are enjoyable and informative.

[Floss]

Im definitely more of a fan of their newer stuff. From TTND onwards has been great, but the newest one is easily their best output for me.  I think with Empire Falls they found a groove that for me at least, really works.  I like some of the earlier releases but they've really hit a purple patch these last few.  That latest album is one i keep going back to, over and over.

The podcast is great!  Great stuff.

[durag]

Primordial were one of these bands I glossed over back in the early 2000's thinking that no good extreme metal could possibly come from Ireland when I was a teen.

Been revisiting a lot of metal I missed out on in the last couple months to a year and I am honestly completely blown away by Primordial. The fact they're Irish makes me an even harsher critic. I love their early stuff and the new albums, great themes and concepts throughout. To be honest, currently my favorite album is between A Journey's End or Spirit The Earth Aflame. Just love those albums.

Vocals are incredible. I read lots of people complaining about them online because they'd rather straight up shrieks - WTF, and let the music lose its power? The vocals make the band completely unique.

[Cosmic_Equilibrium]

I don't get the disparagement for Where Greater Men Have Fallen. I seem to recall that on the old board the album was relatively well received when it came out as being something of a return to form following Redemption.

It's certainly a more memorable album than Redemption I think. Its main issue is that it sounds more like a compilation than a coherent statement - something the most recent album addressed well.

The highlights are: the title track (great opener, sets up the record nicely), Ghosts Of The Charnel House (interesting wide riffing hard rock style and very heavy), Born To Night (total Lizzy worship) and Wield Lightning To Split The Sun (rather old school in terms of structure and lyrics).

The other four tracks are either good (Babel's Tower) or by the numbers (Come The Flood). The only one that doesn't work is The Alchemist's Head (appreciate that it's about William Blake, but musically it does nothing for me).

Not their best album, but definitely still has its moments.

[Cailleach]

To me Exile Amongst the Ruins is a return to form after some weaker albums. Stolen Years, Last Call, and the title track are very good songs.

[Eoin McLove]

It's a cracker.  It'll be interesting to see where they go next. I find they seem to operate in cycles of three so maybe the next two albums will be in a similar vein to Exile,  but I'd like to see them go really dark. A focus on their harsher BM style would be great, but probably unlikely.

[Thorn]

Two words - Blood Revolt 

[Eoin McLove]

Savage album indeed.

[Thorn]

Could Primordial incorporate that urban grime and futility , would it still be Primordial? I don't know but  that's where I'm at, the word 'Harsh' you used, that's a watchword I'd like to see Primordial work by.

[Eoin McLove]

No, I think they are two distinct entities. That urban feel wouldn't be Primordial. I think that the guitar style of Primordial is so rooted in a folk way of playing with those vast, open chords and the bodhrán- like rhythms that it will generally have a dark pastoral feel to it.

I suppose they have incorporated more classic rock techniques on the last couple of albums that contradict what I've said, but they still sound far removed from the brutal, urban atmosphere of Blood Revolt.

[Thorn]

Yep, completely different entities , incompatible, loved the latest Primordial in fairness but I'd be more looking out for Alan's side projects these days.

[Cailleach]

I get the impression some members of the band have no desire to incorporate a harsher black metal sound these days. I'd love to see them mix it up a bit too, but it's highly unlikely.

[Black Shepherd Carnage]

Dark pastoral? There are some properly feral moments on earlier stuff, and some fairly anthemic  moments on newer stuff that is urban, albeit in a kind of Renaissance era kinda urban way. Will we ever hear cement and industry from Primordial? It would certainly take some deep creative genius to pull it off, but I wouldn't say impossible; if they wanted, for example, to conjure a return to nature type vibe, it should pass via a representation of what's being rejected.

Is it giving them too much credit to think they'd be up to a task of that scope? I don't think so, but that's not to say it would occur to them.

[Eoin McLove]

Yeah they certainly have their fierce moments but those elements have always been in context with the folky (not exactly the right word), pastoral (not exactly the right word) primordial(!) and timeless quality of their overall sound and aesthetic.

They have never sounded urban in the sense that their music has an earthiness to it. They sound more elemental than cosmopolitan.

Edit. It might also be that I view them in those terms as opposed to them strictly adhering to those specific traits, but urban gritiness wouldn't come to my mind when listening to a Primordial album.

[Eoin McLove]

I just listened to End of All Times (Martyrs Fire) on YouTube and it prompted me to grab The Gathering Wilderness off the shelf. I suspect it will be on rotation in the car for the foreseeable.