History & Biography The band was formed out of the ashes of a cover band called Forsaken that had grown to compose originals. The founders were guitarist Ciaran and bassist Pol. The latter’s brother would join on drums. Forsaken was active between 1991 and 1992 and became Primordial in 1992. The Irish boys had noticed the Maltese Forsaken. The new band claimed to be extreme and black metal, but incorporated Celtic and ethnic folk elements and stories.
Singer Alan, guitarist and synth man Ciaran, bassist Paul and drummer Derek issued a demo called Dark Romanticism… Sorrow’s Bitter Harvest in the summer of 1993. A rehearsal demo was committed to tape in 1994. Cacophonous Records of England discovered the band and issued the Imrama full-length in 1995. The band and Katatonia appeared on a split record. The band’s sophomore effort was on Misanthropy. O’Laoghaire was on drums now. More Celtic instrumentation was proudly announced. The album’s cover was changed at the insistence of the label. The band was regretful and made sure the Hammerheart records’ re-release featured the artwork it always wanted. Dark Song was about Ireland. Shows with Hades Almighty followed. Then came a 1999 EP, called The Burning Season, through Hammerheart Records. The third full-length was on the third label. The band announced two months’ worth of shows supporting Immortal. Dark Romanticism hinted at the early demo and was a 2004 compilation through Karmageddon, which was the follow-up to Hammerheart.
The group played at PartySan festival in 2003 and taped it for a DVD. The band performed at Summer Breeze in 2004. The show became the subject of a DVD.
The band switched to Metal Blade and had The Gathering Wilderness out in early 2005. The band, Hypocrisy, Exodus, Naglfar and Wintersun announced a tour for late 2005. Averill became a Metal Blade A&R employee in 2010 and was responsible for the Poison Tongue imprint. Michael O’Flonin was the second guitarist here. Rrroooaaarrr was a 1986 Voivod album at first, but it also was the title for a 2005 compilation featuring Primordial and several other Metal Blade bands. The group travelled to the USA and played at Heathen Crusade Metalfest in 2005. The festival failed as the Christians dominated that country even after the show. Alan was a guest on Marduk’s Rom 5:12 album in 2007. Alan was a guest on Rotting Christ’s Aealo album in 2010. Primordial also appeared on the Pagan Metal: A Documentary alongside the likes of Finntroll, Tyr and others. All Empires Fall was a DVD in 2010. It featured footage from several concerts as well as a band documentary. The release of Where Greater Men Have Fallen was accompanied with three German shows with Portrait and Bolzer. The band also played with Morbus Chron. Audio excerpts of All Empires Fall were uploaded onto the web in 2015. Gods To The Godless was recorded at the Bang Your Head Festival in 2015. A Journey's End Volume 2 - Live At The Ritz, Lisbon, Portugal 9.12.1999 was a 2009 bonus CD previously.
How It Ends was released in September 2023. Primordial returned to the USA with a performance at the Maryland Deathfest in May 2024, Maryland was followed by four concerts supporting Bloodbath. The band played at Ragnarök Festival and Rock Hard festival in Germany in 2024. The band released a video clip for Nothing New Under The Sun in 2024.
Primordial’s line-up had been remarkably stable over the years. Guitarist Gerry Clince has deputized for the stage several times over the years. Twilight Of The Gods is a Bathory cover band as of 2010 with the likes of drum nomad Nick Barker and Mayhem’s Blasphemer. This band was seeking concert opportunities.
Reviews PRIMORDIAL - DARK ROMANTICISM - KARMAGEDDON
It does not get much poorer than this. The latest Primordial release is a collection of older demo and rare songs, plus miscellaneous live tracks all packed into one package. What was once deemed as not good enough for release is now a full-fledged special release. Odd, as last anyone checked Primordial was hardly an in-demand quantity. The band's mix of black metal and doom in the old days or its more recent theatric stance has hardly grabbed attentions anywhere. That is due partly the band's threadbare music which is both rudimentary and inconsequential and partly due to the band's use of gimmickry in lieu of actual riffs, hooks, leads or whatever, anything, a band would use to garner fans.
Recognizing this (to some level at least), Karmageddon Music has lumped in a live DVD of the band's performance at Germany's Party San festival to up the 'value quotient' of the package. Sadly, the meager performance and the equally lackluster audience attention and reaction will do nothing to improve the band's image, or this package's worth.
If there ever was a band that seemed to be in plaster casts, Primordial would be it. One would advise the act to add some actual music to its repertoire in order to improve and liven things, but sadly that seems beyond the band's capabilities at this point. - Ali "The Metallian"
Interviews
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