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| The origins of Primordial go back to 1987 when a very young Ciaran Macuilliam and Pol MacAmhlaigh got together to learn their instruments and cover some songs from the likes of Slayer, DRI, Dead Kennedys, Suicidal Tendencies, Metallica, etc. in their native Dublin, Ireland. |
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| Imrama
by Primordial
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Label: Karmageddon Media
2005-07-11
Media: Audio CD
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The origins of Primordial go back to 1987 when a very young Ciaran Macuilliam and Pol MacAmhlaigh got together to learn their instruments and cover some songs from the likes of Slayer, DRI, Dead Kennedys, Suicidal Tendencies, Metallica, etc. in their native Dublin, Ireland. By the end of that year and into 1988 they had been consumed by the early death metal scene and the likes of Death, Sepultura and the more extreme thrash metal scene with Kreator, Celtic Frost and Sodom. So they started to write their own songs together with the band’s old drummer and recorded what is most likely Ireland's first ever death metal demo in 88. The band continued under various different names and then a chance advertisement in Dublin’s one and only metal shop led to A. A. Nemtheanga joining the band in late summer 1991 (they changed the name to Primordial in late 1992).
Things now were beginning to get more and more serious as the band tried to write some original songs as well as playing a few shows and live covering songs by Venom, Bathory, Sepultura, Sodom and Massacre among others. It was clear even back in 1991 that the band and their ideals owed far more to 80's bands like Bathory, Celtic Frost, and Candlemass, and the late 80's early 90's second wave of Black Metal movement with bands like Masters Hammer, Samael, Rotting Christ, Varathron, Beherit, and Mayhem, than the Morrisound/Sunlight death metal movement of the time, and gradually they began to piece songs together that would appear on their only demo, the now legendary “Dark Romanticism” from mid 1993. This demo sold over 1200 copies back in the day and gave the band a well respected underground platform from which they signed to Cacophonous Records from the UK (the first Irish metal band to sign a record deal), which at the time had bands like Cradle Of Filth, Bal Sagoth, Gehenna, and Sigh, among others.
In late 1994 they recorded their first album “Imrama” amidst a host of problems and coping with basic studio inexperience. It was remixed in early 1995 at Academy Studios and in September 1995 after many delays “Imrama” was released. With no interviews, little advertising and no promo campaign, “Imrama” sold really well and gave the band a solid international footing. However no tours happened in support of the album and internal strife and in fighting between the band led to a 3 year hiatus which saw the arrival of a new drummer S.O. Laoghaire and a new record label as well - Misanthropy Records, also from the UK. The band had recorded one track for a split 10” with Sweden’s Katatonia in 1997, but it was not until early 1998 did the band make it back into the studio to record the classic “Journeys End” album. Again no tours happened and the band could not support the album, adding to the mystery of the band yet also frustrating their fans. One ill-fated show at Wacken 98 was the only show in support of “Journeys End” on foreign soil. Misanthropy then folded and the band was again label-less.
Hammerheart Records from the Netherlands stepped into the fray before the band really knew what to do and in 1999 the band released “The Burning Season” MCD that was more to prove that the band was not going to disappear for another 3 years… a statement of intent and a definite new chapter in the band’s history. Gone was the internal strife and a more unified goal and focus was evident. Then followed “Spirit The Earth Aflame” in 2000, the band’s highlight on Hammerheart Records, and it was followed with a European tour with Immortal later in the year as well as European festivals and mini tours for the first time. Primordial had definitely turned the corner. The reviews were ecstatic and the sales were good. Hammerheart re-released “Journeys End” and “Imrama” in 2001 and in 2002 the band followed up “Spirit” with “Storm Before Calm”, a more aggressive yet still dark follow up. However the label was coming apart at the seams, and although the band toured and played festivals “Storm” failed to bring the band to a higher level.
2003 was spent mostly with legal arguments and hassles and finally in 2004 Primordial announced they would sign to Metal Blade Records; after all the years on smaller labels the band could finally rest easier in the knowledge that jobs were going to be done right and the band would get the chance they deserve after all these years. So recorded in October 2004 with famed engineer Billy Anderson (Sleep, Neurosis, Melvins, Fantomas, Brutal Truth etc.) is “The Gathering Wilderness”. Still dark as ever, still unique as ever, still Irish as ever, the years haven’t dulled Primordial and this album merely spells out a new chapter in the bands history. Some bands play music for the sake of a “nice” tune, a “nice” melody or purely for the sake of playing. Some other bands play because it is in their blood, their culture, their history and folklore and life would not be the same without it... Primordial is one of these bands.
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