Description

2012 re-issue on black vinyl

Primordials debut album Imrama from 1995 shows that they were a group with a strong identity even at the beginning. Frontman Naihmass Nemtheanga switches back and forth between multiple voices — a high-pitched black metal screech, a low, doomy mutter, and a thrashy bellow — while the band’s buzzsaw riffs and pummeling rhythms keep things roaring along. The music doesn’t limit itself to black metal’s trebly, 1000 mph blasts, either; the guitars frequently slow down into a melancholy, chiming interplay that’s closer in spirit to Burzum than Mayhem or Emperor, and there’s a surprisingly full bass sound, especially given the vintage (and probable budget) of this recording. Indeed, “To the Ends of the Earth” is so reverbed-out and booming that, if not for the vocals, it could almost be a lost Samhain track.

Track listing:
1. Fuil Arsa
2. Infernal Summer
3. Here I Am King
4. The Darkest Flame
5. The Fires
6. Mealltach
7. Let The Sun Set On Life Forever
8. To The Ends Of The Earth
9. Beneath A Bronze Sky
10. Awaiting The Dawn