It take us a long time to write songs. We live quite far apart now and don’t rehearse often and of course the not so rock n roll problems of getting older and the problems you face with that !. mostly paying bills. However I think by now people who know the band don’t expect an album every year let alone every two years. We would rather quality over quantity. However once we hit a groove things began to come together, all of a sudden it starts to sound Primordial and we know we are on the right path.

Any funny / strange/ outstanding stories happening during the recordings in rainy Wales? Were you for example forced to leave the studio because of the flood?

Actually we have never recorded in summer, always in winter. In the cold, wind and pissing rain. I said on our website it would be a great change to be able to step out of the dungeon after doing a vocal take into some sunshine and to clear my head. So I must have cursed the gods. I think if we had booked the studio one week later then we would have been in serious problems even reaching it from the airport. And at one stage when we left we did wonder would we make the flight but thankfully we missed the worst somehow. So you can blame me for the fucked up weather this summer. I cursed the Gods.

If you have to find a headline for the album, what would that be? (Sounds like a monument..)

A headline?….how about this. Probably the best band you’ve never heard of. 6 albums in and absolutely no compromise. A band who stands for something and means something in a world where most don’t.

Besides it’s quiet bizarre to dedicate an album to the dead. What made you do so?

Bizarre? I would have thought heavy metal has made quite a lifetimes work of singing about the dead ?. the title is from a mass gravestone to the dead in Co.Cork who lost their lives during the great famine of 1845-49 in Ireland. The rough concept of the album is about nationhood and martyrdom and the dead who have given their lives for those things. So the title makes perfect sense. Just scratch the surface with the band…

I would be very grateful, if you could explain in some phrases what the lyrics are about and point out one or two songs plus giving it an explanation…(Take your time and space here…)

The lyrics are roughly dealing with the concept of nationhood. What makes a certain people believe a land is theirs, what happens to these countries heroes, language, customs and folklore when the country ceases to exist. Through the movement of borders or annexation. Its is about the human spirits will to defy, to rebel to stand up to inconceivable odds and still try and make a better world for those who lives after. It is about history and martyrdom, loosing your faith, understanding your place in history. A hymn to the nameless dead, the small nation who defies a tyrant. “As Rome Burns” for example is comparing the state of modern Europe and indeed the world to the myth of Nero fiddling while Rome burned. “Empire Falls” is about the end of Empires, that they all fall over time and ours is about to come crashing down around us.

What would be the most touching compliment someone could give you for “To The Nameless Dead”?

That it moved them, that it touched them, moved them to tears or to rage, or to use it for a positive influence on their life or moved them to go against the grain to think about the world we live in. that they connected with it. The purpose of all real art, we aren’t entertainers, this is art and we are continuing a great, long and rich irish artistic tradition. It may be dark and challenging and many people want to look away from that, they need their 3 minute festival fix, but we are a real band singing about real things and the world is a dark place.

2007 – that means 30 years of Primordial!

eh? Well the beginning go back to 1987 when the guys were kids learning their instruments. The story really starts in 1991. so 16 years I guess..

Is it still fascinating and new or does it more feels like an old habit to do an album and go on tour?

We will keep on doing it til it doesn’t feel right anymore, til I cant give 100%, til I feel like moving onto something else but right now I feel more committed then ever and cant wait to get out and play the new songs to people. This isn’t our living, it never was. We don’t have to rush out half baked albums because we need to go on tour and make money. We don’t make money, we do it all because we have to, this is what is inside of us.

What is the most amazing thing, looking back, you have achieved with the band?

We are still here after all these years, we never compromised anything, we have kept the energy high and quality so strong over the years. How many bands have made 6 strong albums in a row ?. we have brought some of our culture to the world on some level and coming from the late 80s early 90s, from a very poor country we have achieved a lot.

Any aims open still or is it just the passion for your music that keeps you going on and on?

There is no grand plan to any of it, we don’t second guess ourselves, we just do as we please and that’s about it. I hope the day the passion isn’t there is the day we stop. I think I will always be making music though.

Is there something like a date of expiry for Primordial?

no I don’t think so, I never thought we would make it to 6 albums back in 91 or 92 when we were writing for our demo. So who knows, I am going to contribute some vocals to some other projects which should be interesting. Watch for blood revolt. Like I said with primordial there is no grand plan….

Anything planed to celebrate the band birthday?

eh ?…a 17^th birthday?

Last but not least, we like to add something personal like what nobody knows about the band/ band members – so what does nobody knows about you after 30 years?

again…not 30 years. 1987 to 2007 is 20 years ?. but really only 16 years together. I don’t know ?. maybe its strange that we didn’t start the band as friends and we used to fight all the time. We became friends over the years.

Do you collect strange things for example? Are you into sports and which kind?

I don’t really have the space where I live to collect strange things unless they were small !. to be honest im not that materialistic really. I still collect vinyl I guess that’s kinda strange in 2007 !. yes ive always been into sports and keeping fit, staying healthy. Unless you’ve seen me drinking whiskey at a festival then not so!

What’s your most Irish side? (I remember this Gone-With-The-Wind-Thing...)

I’m really not sure of that reference?. im very Irish in many ways but I guess you can tick of the boxes…drinking whiskey, arguing, shouting, fighting, sense of humour, honour and a strong sense of the rebel underdog spirit, a long and bloody history hanging over you, the importance of family, melancholy, and an ability to start an argument in an empty room…

What’s very typical for an Irish man? Can you characterize an Irish man in some adjectives?

I just kind of did above didn’t I?

What’s the biggest luxury/ extravagance you allow yourself?

Fuck I don’t know, like I said I’m not very materialistic. I suppose and ipod seems a kind of luxury to me !. having not really had money for years and lived a sort of slightly untypical life til now spending money on a holiday even seems a luxury to me. Not a big deal to me.

What is your most bourgeois/ middle class attitude? (I love this one!)

I guess I had more when I was an angry and unrealistic teenager but now that I’ve been around this world a lot more and travelled and seen other peoples I’m glad to say I don’t really have that many. Well I’m sure there are some lurking in there and my friends would easily point them out but its late and I’ve been typing for fucking hours so I can’t think of any…

Which is the best metal band in the world and why? (Besides Primordial.. ;))

Iron Maiden from 1980 to 1988…some other bands have better songs of course but during those years and that body of work is pretty much unrivalled. And after all AC/DC aren’t Metal !!!

And not to forget – who was so kind to answer my questions?

This is Nemtheanga…Thanks for your support