Random Records with Steve O

Primordial - Exile Amongst the Ruins

I’ve written about Primordial on here before and I’ll probably be writing about Exile Amongst the Ruins again when Danny and I put together our list of favorite black metal records of the year. So let’s talk some more about how awesome the Dublin act’s kinda-black metal, but also rather unclassifiable, latest record is. Every Primordial record is awesome (if you don’t believe me, check out their Metal Archives page, on which reviews are usually finicky, but are unanimously positive for Primordial) and Exile Amongst the Ruins, their first in four years, definitely follows suit. It is blackened, but the group definitely incorporates Celtic folk metal elements amongst doom metal vibes and post-metal atmospherics to create one of the most distinctive and recognizable metal acts around. There is no mistaking the epic sound of Primordial for anything else.

Look at opener “Nail Their Tongues,” with its transition from doom to the black metal blasts around the four-minute mark, as vocalist A.A. Nemtheanga’s familiar haunting voice gives way to black metal rasps, to its minimalist outro. “To Hell or the Hangman” stands as my favorite and is a straight-up rocker and one of the catchier numbers in the Primordial catalog, with a bit of a post-punk influence. From Nemtheanga’s opening roar, you feel the emotion of every word, a hallmark of his delivery. There are few vocalists, in any genre, who can come close to matching the sincerity present in every line he delivers, with the pain, the bitterness, the anger dripping off every word. The riffing here is hypnotic too, drawing you into the tale of a young Irishman executed by his father for committing murder. “Where Lie the Gods” rocks like an ode to Bathory’s most epic outings, not at all surprising given Nemtheanga’s role in Bathory tribute band Twilight of the Gods. The epic doom vibes present throughout the record also make since with his involvement in Dread Sovereign, who have released two records between Where Greater Men Have Fallen and now.

The title track is more of a subdued effort, making lines like “We are exiled among the ruins / And we are ghosts among the ruins / Without history, without nations / Without names, without a future” even more foreboding. Its minimalism, stretching to eight minutes, highlights Primordial’s ability to play all sorts of games and come across sounding masterful. The shortest track here, “Stolen Years” still surpasses the five minute mark, and Primordial are masterful at using all of this space to create grandiose soundscapes that never sound unnecessary or forcibly drawn out. “Upon Our Spiritual Deathbed” uses its eight-and-a-half minute run time to expertly craft epic doom. “Sunken Lungs” plays with some odd time signatures and overlapping riffs familiar throughout Primordial’s career, with some cool atmospherics emphasizing its nautical nature. It has that epic enunciation where Nemtheanga makes every word feel like the most important he’s ever sung. “Last Call,” the aptly titled closer, has an autobiographical feel to it, as an ode to the touring musician.

Primordial have been around for 25 years now, and over the course of nine full-lengths they have their sound down. It’s a totally unique combination of black and doom metal with Celtic folk inspiration and Nemtheanga’s distinctive voice. There is nobody else out there who sounds like Primordial. And they are one of the best live acts I’ve ever seen. All of which means you should definitely give Exile Amongst the Ruins a listen below and spend the next hour enthralled.