PRIMORDIAL – PITCHLINE WEBZINE 

Hi Ciáran and Alan. Primordial is coming to Spain to lead Madrid is the Dark Fest, a very special doom oriented show that is taking place on October 30 and 31. Since slow metal music is not exactly the most well-known genre here in our country, it is very exiciting for us to have such an important festival with international bands to help it grow up on the Spanish underground metal community. So how do you feel about taking part on it?

It’s an interesting line up and we are looking forward to our first visit to Madrid in ten years. I think it’s a cool idea to have something with a different flavour and not the usual bands doing the Euro festival circuit. I think you have our old friend Adrian from Lugga to thank for the idea and out participation.

Let's discuss some issues about the band. Primordial could be more or less considered as a doomish pagan metal band (well, you could also mention “black metal”), but somehow connected to real world issues. One could expect you to sing about elvish creatures, but your lyrics tend to focus about what goes on in current affairs of our lives. Where does the inspiration come for this, both lyric and music-wise?

Why would one expect us to sing about that kind of childish shit? Simply because we are Irish? Or because we have something in common with some of the ‘pagan’ metal scene? Primordial has never been about living in the past or glorifying myths. It is about the here and now and anything that relates to our history or folklore should be taken in an allegorical sense, as something to build upon and learn from. The inspiration simply comes from living in the here and now and being a living, thinking human being relating to the world around you.

In fact, last update in your website talks about some more in depth and personal lyrics for the next album. I guess Alam would be the most appropiate person to talk about this, but what can you tell us in advance about this? Does it have an influence on the new tunes?

I think the new albums lyrics have been influenced by growing older, realising your own mortality. How man relates to faith and spirituality. Of course there are some recurring themes which I am not finished with. Nationhood, sacrifice, martyrdom etc. But so far things seem a bit more reflective.

Talking about your website, I have to say it is one of the most complete sites related to an underground act, with detailed info on about almost every topic related to the band. Do you personally take care of it? Are you also into social networks, such as Facebook or Twitter?

Of course we have a facebook site, which is the new way of keeping in touch with fans and our community. Myspace is dead as a format for promoting bands, with facebook you cannot spam. We won’t have anymore myspace phenomenons. I’m not into twitter but then again we are usually a couple of years behind the times.

I read you don't rehearse as often as we could imagine, as members of the band actually live in different cities. How do you organize yourselves when there is an upcoming gig or tour? Do you use by chance the Internet to develop and communicate ideas for the band while you are apart (for example, to make progress in the writing process)?

We don’t really trade mp3s like many other bands, we simply hoard ideas and wait until we can all get together. It keeps a human touch to the music. It is difficult but then again everything has always been difficult so it’s just another obstacle.

Primordial's musical style has seriously evolved over the years. Right now, do you feel like your earlier albums could get outdated nowadays, especially when compared to your recent records? Do you usually recall old songs from those early albums when playing live?

No I don’t think they are outdated at all. They represent us at that stage in our lives and evolution. Every now and again we play some old tracks but by now we have 7 albums which is difficult to please everyone when you have a 40-75 minute set. Thankfully we are not one of those bands where people only show up to hear the debut.

Talking about playing live brings us back to Madrid is the Dark Fest. Do you have something special prepared for the fans that could be told in advance to our readers?

I really don’t know yet. Is it not special enough that it is our first gig in Madrid in ten years?

Are you familiar with the other bands sharing stage with you at the festival? Mourning Beloveth, Alcest, Esoteric and so on...

Of course we are old friends with M Beloveth and know the Esoteric guys. I only know the music of Alcest and it grows on me little by little.

Regarding your live activities, there is a new DVD out now. What are we going to find here? I think it is your first video release, so how could you describe the experience of working on it?

It should be available there? It was released months ago? The experience was interesting, different from making an album and we definitely let the film makers have more control of the final product. I’m very proud of the final show. Check if out if you haven’t.

As we talked about earlier in the interview, there are also new songs from Primordial that fans are eager to listen to. A new album has been expected for quite some time, but so far it hasn't been released yet. What is the currnet status for the new recording? When would it come out? How would you describe it, especially compared to the succesful To the nameless dead? Feeling some pressure to top what is your most acclaimed work to date?

We had to put the recording back for various reasons but it seems to be working out better as it’s given us some more time and space. There are quite a lot of ideas coming out so it’s all positive. Primordial takes time and that’s simply the way it is. We just do as we do and as we always did and trust ourselves to come up with someone to match what we did before. Sometimes some pressure is definitely good.

At least in the last few years, Primordial's releases are usually packed with a generous portion of extra stuff. Where does the initiative come from, label or band or both? Do you see it as a way of fighting against Internet downloads?

I think really when we got our old albums back we had to give something extra with them for the re-releases. I think you are right in one way, you have to give people that little bit more in the age of downloading to make the deal better, especially for younger new fans but often it gives me more scope with the aesthetic, like the book edition of Nameless Dead. I think people who love the band appreciate the effort we go to.

Ok guys, that's all. We are glad to have your words on our webzine, and hope to see a good Primordial show at Madrid is the Dark Fest. Anything you want to add to your Spanish fans, this is your chance. Good luck!

Nothing more, thanks for the support, see you all soon. Gracias.