Greetings and thanks for your time dedicated to answering the following questions!

Your current record "To the Nameless Dead" has (deservedly) once again enjoyed extremely positive responses and I wonder whether this in any way leaves you taken by surprise or whether it was anyhow expected it with such a strong material in hand?

…We don’t really think about it too much. We just do the same as we always did. Get on with creating the music. After we have done that and recorded it it’s really up to the labels and press. We don’t rush our songwriting and we only do things on our own terms so I think our fans trust us by now not to let them down. Of course it’s quite gratifying to see people like the album.

And has the good reception brought about any direct effects such as more festival invitations and tour offers?

…Of course, things seem to have taken a big step up. More and more people are interested in the band and we are getting more and more offers every day. However this is our 6^th album not our 2^nd as some people seem to think so we can’t go out on tour for 4 weeks anymore, there are too many complications in life to undertake huge tours anymore.

More and more bands hit the road these days in order to compensate for the dropping record sales. On the other hand, even more fans head for (summer) festivals and leave many club shows with appalling attendance. How do these two forms of live presentation stand in your eyes these days? Would you rather accept a tour offer or just several summer festival appearances?

…That’s a very good point and something we have talked about a lot. One good festival show for example can be the same as playing a whole tour. Once in the 90’s there was Dynamo in Holland then Wacken but now there is a festival in every town and city all over Europe. Realistically what is the incentive for anyone to get in their car and drive on a rainy cold Tuesday February night to see the same bands in front of 80 people you can see them at a festival for cheaper with a beer in your hand and the sun shining. Festivals in that sense are killing touring unless you have a huge festival line up touring or for underground bands who won’t be playing big festivals anyway and whose fans are generally more dedicated. Primordial isn’t the band that tours often so I would like to think our shows are rarer and thus more special and I love touring but I have to admit getting on the big festivals is very important and they are very powerful.

Thinking about what makes your current release so strong, the vocals definitely stand out. I have the feeling that they not only comprise the vocal techniques Alan has been trying before, but something I would label as a synthesis of metal's urgency combined with melodic catchiness. Would you say that the fans instinctively feel and adopt this?

…I don’t know really. Thankfully I am able to achieve what I want with the vocals more and more as the years go by and this time we had a better sound for the vocals and I tried out some different things. Some more complex layers and traditional Metal melodies. Inspired by Dio or Dickinson for example. It just came together better then before.

Also, would you say that vocal urgency is directly connected with having something to say (both musically and lyrically) or that the louder (and more outspokenly) one screams, the less he has to say?

…It could be. For me it’s simple. You say what you mean and mean what you say and when this is how you feel and are connected to the music and subject matter it should not be difficult to sound passionate.

Having mentioned syntheses, "To the Nameless Dead" sounds like an amalgam of the band's previous efforts. Everything seems to be in place, yet rough, the song structure is polished, but not at all simply accessible. Is such a characteristic something you would agree with and was it intentional or do such things shape up naturally and "on the way" as you record?

…Doing things naturally is the most important thing for us. What happens happens, we don’t try and force anything or arrive in rehearsal saying today we have to write a track like Bathory for example. Nameless has something from all our releases, the production is the best we have had and perhaps the album as a whole sounds more accessible I don’t know. It’s not something we worry about.

The recent years have heard plenty of hollow words addressing the crisis of music which sometimes made one think that if all those expressions were instead dedicated to creating something new, we would somewhere else now. Nevertheless, metal seems to be on the rise these days and I wonder whether PRIMORDIAL have anyhow felt this or if you would rather say that the rise brings along more negative effects like over saturation of the market?

…You are right Metal seems again to be on the rise over the last few years. Though for me at least so much of modern metal is so safe and sanitized, so free of danger and rebellion. The original release of energy and violence that Metal began with is lost. I’m not really interested in any “over ground “ bands on bigger labels only the underground and I would like to think Primordial has that underground spirit while challenging the general apathy and soulless-ness of most Metal. Again we do what we do and don’t analyse all this too much.

Speaking of the current status of metal, I wonder where PRIMORDIAL stand within the Irish metal scene and how it has changed throughout the years (both your status and the scene in general). What are the biggest differences between the Irish metal scene of 2007 and 1992 when "The Darkest Flame" compilation came out?

…That’s a long time ago. The biggest differences really are that Ireland has become a richer country and society and it’s structure has changed. We grew up when Ireland was much poorer and more violent and playing Metal was an escape and also a statement against the society we grew up in. Now Metal is just like everything else, nothing seems to matter as much anymore. No one has to fight for anything. The scene is better, the bands are better, the places we play are better although we still cant sell over 1000 cds here in Ireland which is not great.

The lyrics of "To the Nameless Dead" seem (not for the first time) to deal with historical matters, but this time I felt they were reflecting a more general historical experience. Would you say that you are expressing your world-views ("every empire falls") in the lyrics of "To the Nameless Dead" and would you say that they are significantly influenced by your nationality, by coming from a smaller country?

…There are several different themes of course but one of the main currents running through them is that of nationhood. Why a certain people believe they have rights to a certain land. The movement of borders. The eclipsing of nations, what happens to their folklore, folk heroes, languages etc. the people upon whom empires are built. The nameless dead who gave their lives in wars, in the mud, shit, blood and filth remembered only as numbers. To people who gave their lives thinking they were making a better life for their people only to have it all taken from them. People the world over who in their own way fought for what they believed in…testament to the tenacity of the spirit in man to resist and rebel. The themes are more universal, no matter if you are from Peru to Palestine you should be able to see yourself in them.

Stereotypically, over here in the Czech Republic Ireland is connected with an export of Irish whiskey, Celtic traces and sports, mainly football. Are you glad that your home country is viewed through the things mentioned or would you rather highlight something else?

…I guess you can add the IRA and terrorism to that list as well. In truth we are a small country but one of the most famous countries in the world. This makes me proud that we have such an independent spirit but also sad that we are known sometimes only for tourism and the Hollywood ideal of what being Irish means.

Also over here Ireland would recently be connected to the movie "Once". The Frames and Glen Hansard have quite an impressing following here. What is your opinion on the movie (if you have seen it)? Has it been "big" in Ireland, too? Or was it beaten by the Irish Oscar submission "Kings"?

…I haven’t seen the film so I can’t really comment on it, although I heard it was good. I think it did quite well here.

One thing I deliberately omitted in the question regarding Ireland is nature, which also rises to mind when your home country in mentioned. Would you say that it is one of the factors that may directly or indirectly inspire you? And would you say that people get the right impression regarding what Irish country looks like based on promotional photographs or do you think these images profane the country?

…Honestly I have lived in the city from the day of my birth unlike the other guys who now live some of them in the countryside or far from Dublin. Of course Ireland is a small country and traveling around it can be very inspiring. I don’t know if it’s up to us to give people the “right” impression of what Ireland is like.

Also, would you say that there are any characteristics that would make PRIMORDIAL a typical Irish band (not musically, but perhaps when your status as a band in considered)?

…Several I guess. We don’t follow trends, we forged our own sound. We stayed away from scene politics and never jumped on any bandwagon. We have never been the most professional band around, we never studied anything or we don’t rehearse a lot. We do what comes naturally. There are no rock stars in Primordial, we are down to earth and have a healthy sense of black humour. Outsider or rebel status fits us perfectly. And we can drink and fight o)

Coming back to "To the Nameless Dead" which I dare say is definitely a record you'll be remembered for – do you view your musical career continuously, does it "flow" like life does? Or do you rather view it as a set of "big" and groundbreaking moments (such as record releases and successful shows)? What would these moments be and would the reception of "To the Nameless Dead" rank amongst them?

…There are certain chapters to the bands history. One – demo and Imrama, 2 – Journeys End era, 3- Hammerheart years, 4- Metal Blade years. We are entering a new phase and probably one of the last of the band. I imagine if you could call any of them groundbreaking then probably the first album and the new album. A lot  has changed since then but our attitude has remained very similar.

I immensely enjoyed reading your online biography since it shows an unusual amount of ironical distance and self-awareness. Do you think that a certain distance is useful for a metal band and that the approach of not taking oneself so seriously can be generally beneficial?

…Well we take what we do absolutely seriously and there is no humour whatsoever in the music. I always hated jokey and quirkey music and have no desire to attempt that. I don’t want my art or metal with humour. However we are funny guys in our own right and we have a good time when we are together and we can laugh about ourselves. Like I said there are no inflated egos in the band. Humour is a big part of being Irish.

There are very few examples of artists developing from a mild musical expression into an extreme. It almost invariably works the other way round. Would you say that coining a less extreme face is connected to maturing?

…I imagine it is, many people grow older and loose the energy they had when they began the band. It’s hard to be as angry when you are 32 as you were when you were 18 and many people mellow out. I however didn’t mellow out I just channeled my rage into other areas, politics and socio-economics for example. I still keep up with new bands and am always looking for new things. It’s very important for Primordial not to become stale and complacent. Not many bands make a track like Traitors Gate on their 6^th album which is more aggressive then anything on their first album.

Speaking of maturing – do you think that the rather frequent fan approach that advocates the early releases of a band and rejects the following, "milder" records has anything to do with maturing as well? And are you glad that this is not happening so much to PRIMORDIAL?

… Well I am far more mature as a person now then I was at 16 obviously and we have all evolved as people and musicians but I never wanted to drift off into acoustic obscurity or writing songs about easier subjects. I’m still a fan of extreme Metal, I’m more driven, focused and determined then ever before and nothing is going to blunt my edges….

Thanks a lot and best wishes!

Viktor, Spark magazine