Hello! Are you enjoying a typical Irish winter? My brother lives in Limerick and tells me there’s been some flooding nearby.

Winter in Ireland is generally a grey depressing few months. Grey, pissing rain and windy. HOwever seeing as we haven't had proper seasons anymore most of the year is divided into winter and winter-lite, or rather not raining. Loads of flooding, most of Ireland's cities are built on floodplains.
 
I’ve read on your website that PRIMORDIAL are currently in the writing process of the follow up to 2007’s, “To The Nameless Dead”. You stated that you want the new material to sound “rougher” and “more organic” than the past album. How’s it shaping up so far?
 
Yes we have the bones of about 5/6 pieces of music. It's too early really to tell what direction we are heading in but the songs sound powerful to me. Still vibrant and full of energy and purpose. To be honest what I want is a production from around 1978-1982. I hate the modern metal sound. I want something open and huge sounding, not compressed to smithereens for the ipod generation without any dynamic range. A cross between Mob Rules and Killers.

You’ll also be releasing your first DVD in the new year. PRIMORDIAL are renowned for their powerful live performances; do you feel the DVD captures this? What can fans expect from this in general?

Yeah we have done something quite different. This is not a festival free filmed show. We brought in loads of people with no connections to the metal scene to try and make something unique. It's shot in an old tone, it looks like something from 1979. Not crisp and digital with the standard 3 different camera angles. It's edited with real pace and depth. I think a lot of people will be surprised, it looks like the best live metal dvd I've ever seen to be honest. Or at least up there. We aren't a bonus disc of us doing silly stuff backstage kind of band so there is a documentary about the band and some bonus shows from 2008. It won't be overkill though...who watches 7 discs of the same songs?

Going back to your most recent album; “To The Nameless Dead” was not only well received by critics, but was also a huge success amongst fans. Was there any anxiety about not being able to create something up to standard before beginning work on new material?

Slightly, we aren't the kind of people who are really moved by the motivation to cynically rush things and try to capitalise on our own success. What happens happens. We realised of course for the first time ever there is expectation among fans, new fans and the media but we just do as we always did and work on our own time. When number seven is ready it's ready. We are often our own biggest critics so hopefully we can follow it up with something equally as strong but not tread the same path again. So far I'm confident.
 
Your last two albums seem to have been a breakthrough for the band, in some respects. A lot more people seem to be taking note of PRIMORDIAL now that pagan metal has become a more popular genre. Do you ever find it strange how people are being introduced to PRIMORDIAL through newer bands, despite the fact that PRIMORDIAL have been around many years?

Sure, it happens this way sometimes. We came from the second wave of Black Metal and bands from the 80s and don't have much in common with most modern 'pagan' metal or fans who seem to have come more from the power metal genre but what goes around comes around. Magazines that wouldn't touch us before are all of a sudden proclaiming us the godfathers of modern pagan metal. Not a problem for me and it's positive to see a chartable growth within the band. If we can bring some of our culture to new people, challenge them and show them another side of the genre then great.
 
PRIMORDIAL have come to be known for their powerful music with a passionate delivery. What was it like touring with the more upbeat bands of the genre on your most recent tours?

I've had my doubts and I think especially in Europe it tried the patience of our older more underground fans who like me find little musical common ground in the bands we toured with but as I said at the time. I think it was important we went out there and showed people another side of this so called pagan metal genre and brought our own history and culture out there to new people. maybe some of the kids hated us and didn't understand it but in 5 years time they might. We might not do it again in the future but it was important at least once in Europe and the US. I'm not into this kind of music but that's not a problem on tour and generally to a man and woman they have all been great people. Touring with bands like Finntroll, Eluveitie and Moonsorrow for example is an absolute pleasure.
 
You played your first show in North America in 2006 and have since returned a few times, I believe. Do you plan on touring more extensively after the release of your seventh album, or will seeing PRIMORDIAL live always be a very special occasion?

We have done one tour with Korpiklaani and Moonsorrow among others in April 2008. Before that one show in Minnesota. Primordial live from now on will always be a special occasion as touring becomes harder and harder the older you get and the more responsibilities you have. We don't make a living from Primordial and some of us have kids etc. so bear in mind it's almost impossible to make money in the States. Visas, flights, the weakness of the dollar, unseen import taxes and the 30% + commission that all venues take from your merch. It's a huge sacrifice for us but we hope to be back as we had a great time there the last time.
 
One thing PRIMORDIAL are not strangers to are festivals. You’ve played many of the big metal festivals such as Wacken in Germany, Hove in Norway, and even some smaller ones such as Ireland’s Day of Darkness. Are playing festivals like this something you enjoy doing or can they be hard and stressful for the band?

Sure they are stressful. In 5 days we played 5 shows...Norway, Finland, Estonia, Germany and Belgium. Flying between each, travelling in a van. No soundcheck. No sleep etc. but when you sign up to being in a metal band and you can achieve this then you have to stand tall and take all the shit on the chin because at the end of the day you are standing on a stage bringing something you created to a huge audience of new people. I love playing live, this much is evident to anyone who sees us so for me it's a new challenge everyday and I am priviliged but you make your own luck. We deserve to be where we are right now in 2009. When I don't enjoy it anymore I hope I have the good grace to quit.
 
Despite the increase in popularity of pagan/folk metal, PRIMORDIAL haven’t adjusted their sound to cater to this trend by adding folk instruments or female vocals to their music. Is it important that you stay true to your past and continue along this path, maintaining an identity of your own?

The day we do that is the day hell freezes over. Nothing in Primordial is calculated to the scene or the scenes trends or politics. I know bands who do that, I've stood and watched them live, listened to them planning and plotting in the backstage as to what will bring them more attention. Bullshit, all of it. Not compromising is what our fans love us for. It's not going to change now.
 
You dedicated your album, “The Gathering Wilderness”, to Quorthon of Bathory, which I thought was really cool. He must have been an important figure to the band.

Of course. Without Bathory Primordial would definitely not sound the same. Bathory was the first band that showed us you could mix culture and metal together without being cartoon pastiche on an epic scale. It really didn't hit me at the time of his death until a few days later and I pulled out the vinyls and played all the albums back to back and it struck me how much debt I owe him. Not only for enriching my life but for shining a torch along a path no one else was willing to walk. We walk that path now.
 
Favourite Bathory album?

Probably Blood Fire Death as it's the perfect mix of the old black metal past and the epic side to come. A Fine Day to Die might be the greatest metal song ever written without doubt. However any one of the first six I'll accept as anyones favourite. They are all unique and appeal to me on different levels.
 
Some of my personal favourite PRIMORDIAL songs include Empire Falls, The Coffin Ships, and Autumn’s Ablaze. When you look back on your career, are there certain songs or albums that you are particularly proud of?

I am proud of them all and wouldn't change a thing. They capture us at moments in our lives, flawed as they might be we are humans and Primordial has always sounded human in an age of machine like bands. The best way I can say it is that each song and album means something different to me over the years and some have become really special through playing them live, for example to witness the reaction to the Coffin Ships live is incredible and deeply moving. The day I can't be moved by that is again the day I hopefully quit.
 
PRIMORDIAL’s lyrics have dealt with a wide variety of subjects such as paganism, Irish history, nature, and the poetry of William Yeats. On a deeper level, however, the lyrics seem to address more contemporary matters. What are some of the main messages that the lyrics of PRIMORDIAL attempt to convey?

Not many lyrics deal with paganism or folklore to be honest. They deal with questions relating to both but always have a purchase in the modern age, in the here and now. Primordial is about our challenges now not dealing with some mythical past that never was. I only ever use motifs from the past like 'Sons of the Morrigan' to tell an allegorical tale related to the here and now. Primordial attempts to deal with all these problems we face; religion, martyrdom, nationality and nationalism and how we relate to that, history, faith, alienation, failure and triumph. Anyone from Peru to Palestine should be able to see themselves in Primordial. It's not exclusive but inclusive.
 
Even though PRIMORDIAL are in their mature years, I still see a lot of life in the band. For how much longer do you think PRIMORDIAL will continue for?
Thanks a lot for your time! Any last words for your heathen tribes?

I'm 34 now. We are all around the same age. We started young so we still have some years left. Who knows? when we made one album I couldn't see us making 1 but here we are nearer to 10 then 1. Our work isn't finished yet but someday. Until then, keep the faith. Joy and strength.

AAN