Well, I've decided that I'm not going to try to stay on top of new albums and review them as they appear, I'm much happier sharing my insight on albums that i think are killer!
So, here we have one of the FINEST albums I've heard in recent years, recorded totally with analogue gear and on 1st and 2nd takes! The playing is tight as all hell and the vocals are just wonderful! Belting singing over screaming, but with some great shrieks at parts!
So, who wants a blow by blow review? ME!
1.
"Empire Falls" Opening on an exceptionally melodic note, but then descending into a very cool, very heavily black metal influenced riff, the vocals BELT! With some great lyrics and a marvellous chorus that gets even the most anti-black metaller singing along!
2.
"Gallows Hymn" One of my favourite songs ever, period!! The bass guitar opens on a very slow and melodic riff, hypnotizing the listener, then kicking off into some marvellous word play and lyrics that you can really feel the emotion behind, the shift from single kick to double kick during the song is truly a marvellous moment on the album and really gets your foot tapping!
3.
"As Rome Burns" A rather ambient song, with a very haunting melody, lyrically very strong and a departure from the two opening tracks, one of the best songs on the album! A great use of dynamic feel, something often lost in the loudness wars of recent years!
4.
"Failures Burden" A truly sorrowful number, the heartfelt lyrics really tell a story that is transferred well to the listener, a great show of the screaming ability of A.A Nemagthanga, rather than outright screeches, a very harsh vocal is used that really compliments his very powerful voice! the song speeds up toward the end and really gets your head nodding!
5.
"Heathen Tribes" Anyone who doesn't adore the opening riff to this song is a fool and a musical cretin, the riff truly shows the ability for Primordial to cover all bases with their sound, rather than pigeonholing themselves into one area of the genre, they really excel with the transition between riffs, providing a jaunty almost sea shanty like sound with this song, it really does get your foot tapping! The guitar solo is also marvellous!
6.
"The Rising Tide" A filler track, providing an ambient intro to traitors gate, very well done with drones and ambient samples, really sets the mood for the following number!
7.
"Traitors Gate" True black metal, the song starts with such true echoes of Burzum or Mayhem, the blast beats are strong, the riff is catchy, but still harbours its inherent dissonance, overall a musically marvellous song! Once again A.A manages to convey such passion and emotion through his voice, which I believe is down to the use of analogue gear, rather than using editing to create a perfect take, a raw and passionate feel lives and breathes on this album!
8.
"No Nation On This Earth" A truly beautiful closing track, with a clever use of melody and rhythm, a rather up beat feeling riff, but keeping the traditional sound and tonality of it's black metal roots! You can definitely tell the Primordial boys hail from Ireland at this point! A good use of exotic scales and melodies really do put this song in the top end of an already marvellous album!
What can i say? This is a marvellous album of varying stlyes of black metal and the most AWESOME vocals I have heard in a very long time!
I can't praise this album enough!
Go out and buy it or pirate it, I don't care, just.. GET IT!!!
Cheers!
Awesome review ;)
ReplyDeleteGoing to listen to them more now!
Was listening to gallows hymn earlier and it was very good :D