Primordial
Redemption At The Puritan's Hand

The new Primordial has already been in stores for a few months. While we await a serious analysis, which will hopefully bloom soon into a worthy review, let's dust off its worthy predecessor.

Released in 2011, Redemption at the Puritans Hand, slightly eases the claustrophobia and drama of To the Nameless Dead to retrieve the pagan flair of the memorable Spirit the Earth Aflame, hurling the listener into a leaden, desolate and melancholic abyss.

The Italian critics are always rather creative and varied in defining the genre proposed by these Irishmen. To realize this, just take a trip online and read the reviews of the aforementioned record: epic metal, celtic metal, folk metal; some take refuge behind shields by simply writing metal; others commit heresy by daring to use the word pagan; (perhaps one of those deluded scribblers who see cosmic, hollywood, and film score metal as truly existing genres).

Analyzing Primordial in their metallic genuineness, we can boldly flaunt that the dark crackle of the bass, the granite wall erected by the guitars, the intermittent beats of the drums, and the desperately theatrical voice take on blatantly doom tones; a style that serves as a pivot to the proposed music, then tinged with splashes of black, epic, and folk metal.

The album offers eight suites for an hour of pure lyricism and ineffable sound class. No lapse in tone: everything is perfect from the prologue to the epilogue, although it's always a pleasure to mention the moments of greatest emotional impact, like the refrain of the opener No Grave Deep Enough, where Nemtheanga's scream adds a touch of extra malevolence to the perverse folk/doom of the verses; or the electroacoustic crackle that introduces Lain Whit the Wolf.

Reflecting then on the oppressive atmosphere that haunts this work, it's inevitable to think of the nostalgic desolation of The Mounth of Judas, or the afflicted idolatry of Death of the Gods. But it is Bloodied yet Unbowed that sums up all these gloomy emotions. We are talking about the most refined track of this work. Introduced by a weary electroacoustic lullaby, it then explodes into an epic mid-tempo, suddenly cut off by a violent acceleration (which seems to mention the Satyricon of Dark Medieval Times) destined to calm down in a choral outro with a Nordic aftertaste: a spectacle worth recounting in detail!

Redemption At the Puritan’s Hand could be remembered as Primordial's best album; it is certainly the most successful, thanks also to the homogeneity of the tracks and a sound raw enough at the right point. A good requiem to all of you...

Line up:

Nemtheanga: Vocals

MacUilliam: Guitar

MacAmhlaigh: Bass

O'Floinn: Guitar

O'Laoghaire: Drums

Tracklist:

1 No Grave Deep Enough

2 Lain Whit the Wolf

3 Bloodied yet Unbowed

4 God's Old Snake

5 The Mounth of Judas

6 The Black Hundred

7 The Puritan's Hand

8 Death of the Gods