PRIMORDIAL - Where Greater Men Have Fallen
December 8, 2014, 10 years ago
(Metal Blade)
Primordial hit many best-of lists in 2005 and 2007 with their impressive The Gathering Wilderness and To The Nameless Dead outings respectively, but they stumbled a bit with their Redemption at the Puritan's Hand 2011 release. So, this eighth full length album takes on even more significance for the veteran unit. Will it signify a continued deterioration in quality or a return to form? Fans will be pleased to hear that it is definitely the latter. Containing eight lengthy tracks, there are no less than four absolute classic songs that should find their way onto the band's already crowded set list, while the other four aren't slouches either. High points include the strident, militaristic title track opener, while the mid-section of the album is held up by the wall-of-sound blast that is 'The Seed of Tyrants' and the heaving "Ghosts Of The Charnel House". The highlight of the tail end is "Born To Night", which finds the band turning fellow Irishmen Thin Lizzy's "Black Rose" main hook into a moody, extreme epic. Once again vocalist A.A. Nemtheanga steals the show though, putting on a performance that is possessed, impassioned and quite simply dazzling. Ebbing and flowing with the natural proclivities of the music, Nemtheanga goes from crooning, to pained discourse, to heated shouts with amazing ease, providing much of the album's depth and staying power. Extreme folk doesn't get any better than this.
