Primordial – Exile Amongst the Ruins (2018)

Perfectly aging with time, today we have Primordial and their latest opus “Exile Amongst the Ruins”. Unleashing over 65 minutes of superbly crafted music, the band builds up on their legacy with eight incisive tracks that are both catchy and undeniably effective. Featuring the band’s signature style, this release will captivate the attention of timeless fans of the band, and shall get them hordes of new fans.

Opening with the mysterious “Nail their Tongues”, there is a certain folky and yet mystical atmosphere crafted since the first note. Led by the charismatic Alan Nemtheanga, the band’s sound is instantly recognizable with his mixture of clean leads and harsh passages, creating a very dark and yet haunting contrast. With songs like “Where Lie the Gods” and the album title track, the band slowly warms up with incisive riffs and determined drumming.

With most tracks being over seven minutes long, each one is perfectly crafted to slowly build up and take advantage of unique structures to keep the listener engaged and always guessing. One of our favorites is “Upon Our Spiritual Deathbead” and its gradual build up, starting with martial drumming and slowly incorporating riffs and captivating leads. Another personal favorite track is the twangy “Stolen Years” and its unique free-style like opening jamming that leads to a very melancholic track with Doomy riffs.

Immediately after the ravaging “Sunken Lungs”, the band closes with the moody “Last Call”. This last track perfectly summarizes this release, by being full of crafty tempo changes and very emotional vocal melodies. Overall, “Exile Amongst the Ruins” is definitely one of the band’s best albums to date. Primordial has gradually aged with time, but with each release you hear their sound more mature and yet fresh enough to never get dull. If you like well-crafted music that is quite dark in nature, look no further and pick up a copy of this.

Label: Metal Blade Records

Release: March 30th, 2018

Genre: Celtic Folk/Black Metal

Country: Ireland