Primordial – To the Nameless Dead

(Metal Blade Records - 2007, 8 tracks, 64 minutes 42 seconds, reviewed by Adam McAuley)

This album, To the Nameless Dead, displays the great talent that Primordial bring to the heavy metal environment via their majestic approach to song-writing. We can sense a very honourable manner of approach that this band can display and it makes them to be a distinctive unit in the genre because of the passion their awe-inspiring constructs manage to obtain from you. One can sense a sort of empowerment to be derived by their dense techniques overall.

The first thing one notices is that when trying to compare the band, it is very difficult to make in appropriate comparison because their sound is so unique, but I could see them being slanted towards Agalloch by some. This comes from their very nature-like sound that makes them seem enchanting in a similar manner to that band. Otherwise, they occupy a triumphant realm that should be emulated from rather than compared to.

What are some of the shades that best describe Primordial’s style? We can sense them utilizing a very rapturously rhythmic guitar which has highs and lows to suit the variously moody textures the band wish to portray. There is a decidedly hopeful tune to the songs, which is echoed by their up-swinging mood at times to create a characteristic sound.

The band are successful at crafting their epic approaches to a reasonable extent altogether. The rising tensions in the song-writing display this as seen from “Traitor’s Gate”, for example, which features the greatest epic build-ups on To The Nameless Dead. Other songs follow a similar suit.

In terms of musical performances, we can see a charismatic vocalist that carries himself properly over the momentous soundscapes. The support of the backup band is equally astonishingly solid, providing abrasive guitars, over a nicely constructed wonderfully laden guitar passage scene. This all goes together to form an outfit that shows strong promise in their song-writing skills with only the hope to improve in the future.

Overall, To the Nameless Dead is a splendid entry into an already stellar line-up of albums that is consistently proving Primordial to be one of metal’s better bands. They generate sonicscapes that will wow you, but just fall short of reaching an altogether phenomenal status. Still, To the Nameless Dead is a splendid album.