Primordial played in the US for the first time in January. How did that work out and can you see yourselves heading back Stateside in the near future?

- it was a great experience to finally get over there, the organisation was great and everyone was very enthusiastic towards the bands as i guess we were the first bands of that ilk to play over there. there is talk of returning over there to play again with moonsorrow but things are tight with time off/work,all that mundane shit and also the little thing of trying to create a new album...

You also completed a mini European tour in April, with gigs in Germany, Holland, Belgium, Hungary and Austria. It seems you’re getting plenty of live action this year. How does playing live compare with working in the studio?

- yeah we had several tours cancelled in 2005 for various typical reasons so we though we would organise our own 2 week tour together with moonsorrow and mourning beloveth and headline for the first time. thankfully the crowds were really enthusiastic and the whole thing was a very positive experience, and something we hope to do again. for once we could play 80 and 90 minute sets to fans of the band rather then people interested in us having to make do with 35 minutes crammed in at some festival tour...

Any hedonistic stories to relate? 

- primordial are quiet well mannered boys you should know that...there are many whiskey soaked tales that have become folklore by now !... 

It’s been 18 months since you laid down the tracks on ‘The Gathering Wilderness’ – when might we expect a sixth Primordial full-length? 

- we are starting to get down to some work on new songs right now. things usually run in 2 year cycles. i dont think you are ever going to get a primordial album every year we simply arent that kind of band. when we will be finished is hard to tell. we are trying to aim to record something in about 6 months perhaps sooner perhaps longer, its hard to say 

Lyrically, ‘The Gathering Wilderness’ was overtly pessimistic, almost like you guys are suffering for your art. Would Primordial exist if the world was a happy place? To what extent is the music a reaction to a fucked up world? 

- primordial reflects of course our realtionship to ourselves and to the world around is, the world is a dark place therefore primordial sounds dark, it couldnt be any other way. you see what seperates us from other bands is we are not fantasy, not escapism, there are no dragons or unicorns or songs about how heavy metal we are, or about long dead mythological characters...this is absolute dark grim reality. which is of course one of the reasons we are not bigger then we are...most people want the dragons, solos and escapism not to be reminded how dark and fucked up this world is. we are also artists not entertainers remember that as well...the gathering wilderness concept perhaps can be summed up with the line "maybe just maybe ill take you down with me". the war maybe lost but perhaps we can win our personal battles... 

Over the past 13 years, Primordial has evolved significantly in terms of sound (more epic) and outlook (more pessimistic). For me, this is most apparent when comparing ‘Spirit the Earth Aflame’, which carried a more upbeat message, with the last album, which was downbeat and defeatist (though still defiant). In between, ‘Storm Before Calm’ remained upbeat. Why did the mood become so bleak in 2004? 

- i think the world has become a darker place even since 2000, journeys end was pretty dark as well though dont forget but then come the burning season ep you are right the message was more about personal overcoming against the odds, the triumph of the will that kind of thing. since then everything ive been reading, seeing, hearing leads me to believe we are perhaps beyond the point of no return, socially, environmentally, ecologically, politically, economically. i think we are going to witness in our lifetimes absolute social upheavel on all  levels...and honestly theres a part of me that is willing it to happen. the end of all times... 

Your Irish heritage permeates Primordial’s music and lyrics. What does it mean to be Irish in 2006? What do you think of the country and the way it conducts itself - spiritually, morally and politically? 

- interesting question. ireland has changed a lot, since we have money i think we have lost our sense of community, slowly our sense of identity. people are simply centered on greed and making as much money as quickly as possible. and like everywhere else we have become absorbed in meaningless celebrity culture and globalist everyman culture. it makes me fuckin sick to be honest, but thats the media's plan, to make us one huge nation. when we had to struggle and our country is born of struggle i think the people were friendlier, more open, more honest, less obsessed with themselves, spiritally ?, there really isnt anymore spiritually other then capitalist, globalist thinking, the west has replaced that with money. morally ?...well the church has no more influence here really, esepcially not in dublin where im from which is of course a good thing...but what has it been replaced with ?. politically the cracks are starting to appear as with the rest of europe. the left calls the centre the right therefore in time there will be no more centre and people will be driven into the arms of the right. Europe will burn in the next twenty years... of course i paint a grim pciture and there are surely positives in the new ireland, less poverty and the country is less backward but our rise to fame has not been steady and sure, but quick and heady. time will tell 

Christianity has torn Ireland apart, yet we seem ashamed of our Pagan past. Do you believe the people would have suffered less bloodshed if we were still a Pagan nation? 

- well dont forget ireland was not christianised by the sword, the pagan culture was more or less assimilated over time into the new one. wondering about how things would be if we were still pagan is very difficult to imagine as christianity tied up many of the loose ends so to speak. of course we would like to think things would be better with an earth based culture based on mans natural relation to the elements but how evolved we would have become is open to question. i believe we would have been better off...but its a difficult question to answer. 

Primordial are backing the campaign to save the Hill of Tara – one of Ireland’s most sacred Pagan landmarks – from an impending motorway. Could you shed some light on this topic and explain why you feel so strongly about it? 

- its really pretty simple, the hill of tara the ancient seat of the high kings is situated in an area called the boyne valley which is so rich in ancient monuments and undiscovered sites just outside dublin, and ireland being ireland, its all about who you know and jobs for the boys and someone somewhere in government has given their building contractor friends a new job...to build a motorway through it, and obviously certain people in power will get to sell their land so the motorway can be built, its all about who is making as much money as possible from whoever else. helping your "mates" out. there is an alternate route they could take but it obviously wont make the boys as much money. a perfect example of modern ireland. 

You’re also a member of Void of Silence. Anything happening on that front these days? 

- yeah we are going to make a new album this year, we are just finalising a new deal right now. 

What music are you listening to at present? 

- right this second necrophobics new one, lately....isis, high on fire, drudkh, revenge, axis of advance, destroyer 666, reverend bizarre, omen, funeral mist, watain, deathspell omega, at war, ancient rites, vrani volosa, repugnant, 16 horsepower, woven hand, razor, sigrblot, slough feg, place of skulls, tragedy, from ashes rise, basically anything real and honest...im not interested in any mainstream stuff at all. no computerised, airburshed metal 

Could you describe the following bands in one word?

Metallica –  first 3 albums classic...and when i saw them on justice it was one of the most inspiring things, made me want to stand on a stage

Bathory –  our biggest inspiration, the first band that showed us you could tear up the rule book and make your own rules and could marry your culture and music in a positive way. they were sad and dark days after Q died for sure...

Nile –  i actually worked on a tour with those guys so i know them. i have a few albums by them, that kind of brutal death metal is not my thing at all but i dont mind sticking on some Nile every now and again...

Judas Priest –  yeah i love priest. from 76 - 84 arguably the greatest metal band ever...

U2 – i like some old stuff from around 1980 or so and also the joshua tree as well. stuff like new years day and that kind of thing

Sigrblot – yeah great album...great band

Manowar – hail hail hail, one of my favourite bands and put on one of the best shows in 2003 in italy ive seen in recent memory

Enslaved – i must admit everyone raves about the new ones but i cant get into them, i love the first ep they did hordanes land 

The sacrifices involved in sustaining a band are enormous. Is it always worth it? Do you ever think ‘why am I doing this? 

- yeah sometimes i do but i have to do it, we all do, we dont play in primordial because we might as well, we didnt start the band on a drunken night in the pub because we might as well do something. in the beginning it was i guess to escape from how shitty, rough and poor ireland was back in the late 80s early 90s...then once we reached our cultural epiphany so to speak then we knew the path we wanted to take...our music exists because of our culture and vice versa.  

What is left for Primordial to achieve? 

- i think we will all be musicians as long as we are alive or near to hopefully, primordial is where we are now. it wont last forever. nothing does but i dont see an end in sight. for me, to continue to make strong and challenging music, meet new people, travel places we havent been and never compromise... 

Any final message for your fans? 

- stay strong

culture is resistance

art is rebellion