Primordial

Live at The House of Blues

Hollywood, CA 5/17/2009

Review by Travis Baumann

Primordial are a fairly new find for me, having sought them out online after reading about how a predominant musician in the neo-folk scene in Germany had his own ideas of music and bands change after the profound experience of seeing them live.

Meister Selbfreid of Corvus Corax and Tanzwut fame distinctly states that seeing Primordial live was one of the contributing factors leading to his own retirement. I thought if someone as talented as he can be so moved by their performance to feel that they just cannot be topped, well I better check them out.  

It took me a few listens to really get into their stuff but now I can definitively say that songs like "Heathen Tribes", "Empire Falls", and specificially "Coffin Ships" are extremely moving and motivating songs that I just cannot hear enough of.

Primordial were touring as co-headliners for the second wave of the Pagan Fest here in North America. From researching them online and listening to their music they have a distinct pagan heart which is different from the other bands playing as it is through their Irish heritage that they are moved and inspired while most of the acts this night are actually Neo Vikings from Finland.

The band consists of two guitarists, a bassist, and a drummer with of course, in their case the most important part, their lead singer. The band is excellent, don't get me wrong but where Primordial really hit home is the unique, emotive strength of their vocalist.

Most of the Pagan metal bands sing in an extremely harsh method while Alan has a completely different take on the vocal styles, which hits like a breath of fresh air. He was also quite involving to watch, covered in ash like make up and blood splashed onto his clean shaven head.

They opened the set with "Empire Falls" off of their latest CD release "To The Nameless Dead". This is one of my favorite songs of theirs and a great one to be in the photo pit for.

Their songs are generally extensive, building ventures with the lyrics based in epic historical legends expressing where we stand in our own ancestry and in the world around us. It is a world that should be about honor but many times involves hardships and pain. I was particularly moved by their second to last song "Coffin Ships".

The lead singer made an effort to explain that some songs come from the heart and this one most certainly did. This song was about the emigration of the Irish during the horrible famines, these ships bringng our Irish ancestors to the shores of America, these were the Coffin Ships. This song is incredibly intense and moving and I was completely swept up in the moment.

They finished the set with the unbelievable "Heathen Tribes" which I find myself listening to every day since the show. The lyrics to this express how one open to nature and our earth find their church all around them, the sky the ceiling to our cathedral, the ground the floor of our temple.

I have been talking about them to anyone and everyone I know with an ear for metal and an open mind as they really blew me away. They have made a huge fan out of me with their intense songs and I just cannot listen to them enough or get their songs out of my head.

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