Primordial

is an extreme metal band from Skerries, County Dublin, Ireland. It was formed in 1987 by Pól MacAmhlaigh (bass) and Ciarán MacUiliam (guitars). Their sound blends black metal and doom metal with Celtic music.
The band's roots stretch back to 1987 when Pól and Ciarán first began playing together with Pól's brother, Derek. The band (who were called Forsaken for a brief period) initially played a rough, hybrid mix of early, primitive thrash and death metal (playing covers of Death, Sepultura and the like).Vocalist Nemtheanga joined the band after seeing an advertisement for a singer in Dublin specialist Metal store The Sound Cellar in 1991. According to Primordial lore, the ad was pasted over no more than 2 hours after it being put up.Upon Nemtheanga's joining the band, the band started to pursue a darker direction citing influence from Bathory, Celtic Frost and the emerging Greek and Norwegian black metal scenes.Primordial was the first black metal styled band to emerge from Ireland with the release of their Dark Romanticism demo in the early summer of 1993 (Cruachan were also active at this time combining black metal with folk music). The band initially came to the attention of Lee Barrett from the UK label Candlelight Records but he failed to move on signing the band, so after a live soundboard recording from Dublin from 1994 was sent to Cacophonous Records (Cradle of Filth, Bal Sagoth, etc.), the band signed with them for the release of their debut album Imrama.Although their debut album, Imrama, was characteristic as being in a more melodic black metal musical direction, they gradually came to refine their sound with A Journey's End, which included the use of mandolins and whistles and a more epic style. The two subsequent releases, The Burning Season and Spirit the Earth Aflame, showed the band's reflection of cultural geist and emotion, woven into an amalgam of black, Celtic, and folk metal musical styles. They have toured with various metal bands in the extreme metal genre, including Norwegian black metal band Immortal.They released their dark fourth studio album Storm Before Calm in 2002, but the band's fifth album The Gathering Wilderness turned out to be a much darker and bleaker record than any Primordial had made before, providing the listener with a rawer sound as well. It was chosen as album of the month in Terrorizer Magazine and appeared in many top lists of the year 2005.In January 2006 the band played their first US show alongside Thyrfing and Moonsorrow at the Heathen Crusade metalfest in Columbia Heights, Minnesota.The band's sixth album To the Nameless Dead, was released on 16 November 2007 with universal praise for its raw sound used from the first or second recordings. In November and December 2010, the band entered Foel Studio in Wales to work with producer Chris Fielding once again. The resulting album, Redemption at the Puritan's Hand was released via Metal Blade on April 22, 2011. In July 2014, Primordial announced their eighth studio album under the working title Where Greater Men Have Fallen. It was released November 25th 2014 in the US and November 24th elsewhere.On April 18th 2018 their ninth studio album Exile Amongst the Ruins was released.

Country of origin: Ireland
Location: Dublin, Ireland
Status: Active
Formed in: 1992

Genre: Celtic Folk/Black Metal
Lyrical themes: Cultural heritage, History, Struggle
Current label: Metal Blade Records
Years active: 1991-1992 (as Forsaken), 1992-present
Since 1987, members of the band played in various thrash/death metal bands, predominantly playing cover songs, until Forsaken was formed around 1991. This was originally a cover band that covered songs by groups such as Bathory and Venom.

 

MEMBERS

Current
Pól MacAmlaigh	Bass (1993-present)
Ciáran MacUiliam	Guitars (1993-present)
See also: ex-Arcane Sun (live)
A.A. Nemtheanga	Vocals (1993-present)
See also: Dread Sovereign, Twilight of the Gods, ex-Blood Revolt, ex-Perdition, ex-Plagued, Aprilmen, Metal Salvage, ex-Void of Silence
Simon O'Laoghaire	Drums (1997-2002, 2003-2010, 2010-present)
See also: ex-Geasa, ex-Perdition, ex-Dread Sovereign
Micheál O'Floinn	Guitars (2002-present)
See also: ex-Carnún
Past
Derek "D." MacAmlaigh	Drums (1993-1997)
Feargal Flannery	Guitars (1993-1997)
See also: ex-Arcane Sun, ex-The Fifth Dominion
Past (Live)
Dave McMahon	Bass (2003)
Steve Hughes	Drums (2003)
See also: Eternum, ex-Slaughter Lord, ex-Nazxul, ex-Mortal Sin, ex-Presto
Gerry Clince	Guitars (2003, 2008, 2015), Bass (2017)
See also: Death the Leveller, Mael Mórdha
Cathal Murphy	Drums (2010)
See also: Carnún Rising, Hallowed, ex-Karnayna, ex-Pagan Reign, ex-Mael Mórdha
Gareth Averill	Drums (2010)
See also: Aprilmen

 

DISCOGRAPHY

Name	Type	Year
Dark Romanticism... Sorrow's Bitter Harvest...	Demo	1993
Demo	Demo	1994
Imrama	Full-length	1995
Primordial / Katatonia	Split	1996
A Journey's End	Full-length	1998
The Burning Season	EP	1999
Spirit the Earth Aflame	Full-length	2000
Storm Before Calm	Full-length	2002
Dark Romanticism	Compilation	2004
The Gathering Wilderness	Full-length	2005
Primordial / Mael Mórdha	Split	2005
Rrroooaaarrr	Split	2005
To the Nameless Dead	Full-length	2007
All Empires Fall	Video	2010
Redemption at the Puritan's Hand	Full-length	2011
Where Greater Men Have Fallen	Full-length	2014
All Empires Fall	Live album	2015
Gods to the Godless	Live album	2016
A Heathen's Anthology	Boxed set	2017
Heathen Legacy	EP	2018
Exile Amongst the Ruins	Full-length	2018