01/20/2011 21:13
Primordial
Primordial: 'Storm before Calm' reissue
Irish pagan metal masters Primordial will reissue their classic 'Storm before Calm' album on February 11/14 in Europe. The original album will be released as a remastered version in a double digipak with new artwork. The package will also contain the bonus-dvd 'Live at Summer Breeze 2004'.
Comments Primordial singer A.A. Nemtheanga: "'Storm before Calm' is the album in many respects the album that got away. The label at the time was shipping water and about to go under and despite the positive press the impact made was far less than previous album 'Spirit the Earth Aflame'. Everything somehow seemed like an afterthought, the artwork was not what we had in mind and something we always regretted. Halfway through the recording the plug was almost pulled by the studio, no money had come through to pay the deposit. It was only for the understanding of engineer Mags and the owners that we were allowed to continue and 'Storm before Calm' even existed at all.
One thing looking back that doesn't seem like such an afterthought to me is the songs. We may have been grappling with Pro Tools, what was a new concept and technology for us that perhaps took some of the rich edge of the music but they still sound strong. Opener "Heretics Age" hit harder than anything we had done before to the W.B Yeats poem "Hosting of the Sidhe" which did the great mans words justice 'Storm before Calm' is a strong album that perhaps never quite got the respect nor attention it deserved from either the press or fans. However it's with great pleasure we can re-release the album with proper and revised artwork, give the music a small but faithful re-master and as a bonus disc our performance at Summer Breeze in 2004. It's obvious we had yet to learn our trade playing on big stages but it's an interesting snapshot of the band from the 'Storm before Calm' period. Enjoy!"
Track listing:
1. The Heretic Age
2. Fallen to Ruin
3. Cast to the Pyre
4. Suns First Rays
5. What Sleeps Within
6. Hosting of the Sidhe
7. Sons of the Morrigan
Tracklisting of the bonus-dvd 'Live at Summer Breeze 2004:'
1. Gods to the Godless
2. A Journey's End
3. The Heretic's Age
4. The Soul Must Sleep
5. Sons of the Morrigan
6. To Enter Pagan
In other news Primordial have confirmed a bunch of European club and festival shows.
"We are constantly reminded all the time about how tired and jaded people are, that nothing excites them to go to club tours anymore that attendances are dwindling. It may only be ten dates but we really tried this time round with album number seven 'Redemption at the Puritan's Hand' coming out in April to try and put something a little different together and to hopefully combat some apathy! The mixture of the epic metal bombast of While Heaven Wept and the sweeping melancholy of Alcest together with Primordial will make for some shows to long live in the memory!"
Primordial live:
27/05/11 - DE – Dessau - Metalfest Open Air
28/05/11 - AT – Mining - Metalfest Open Air
29/05/11 - CH – Pratteln - Metalfest Open Air
30/05/11 - NL – Tilburg - O13 *
31/05/11 - NL – Nijmegen – Doornrosje *
01/06/11 - BE – Vosselaar – Biebob *
02/06/11 - DE – Aschaffenburg - Colos-Saal *
03/06/11 - SI – Maribor – Stuk *
04/06/11 - HU – Budapest - Metalfest Open Air
05/06/11 - CZ – Pilsen - Metalfest Open Air
* clubshows with support from While Heaven Wept and Alcest.
Right now Primordial are putting the finishing touches on their seventh studio album, 'Redemption at the Puritan's Hand', with producer Chris Fielding (Napalm Death, Electric Wizard) for a tentative April release via Metal Blade Records.
"Chris Fielding is awesome, as usual," Primordial vocalist Alan "Nemtheanga" Averill told Decibel magazine. "He's learned a few more tricks since we were last there, so it's working out well. The album itself sounds vital and full of energy," he continued, "and has some very bleak and morose moments, but also some of the more metal elements we had moved into with 'The Nameless Dead' It's definitely Primordial and won't disappoint people."
(source: Metal Blade Records)