Reviews list for Primordial - To the Nameless Dead (2007)

A breathtaking album that seamlessly blends the pride and suffering of Irish/Celtic history with black metal and doom metal.

All of the music on To The Nameless Dead is full of emotion, gravity, and a salt-of-the-earth brand of epicness. Not "epic" in the overblown manner of some folk metal bands... It's just pure soul-crushing epic music. 

The passion Primordial has for their music and for their history (the primary lyrical subject) is readily apparent and is what makes this such an enticing listen. The vocals, the glorious guitar riffs, the engaging songwriting...all of it comes together to make this beautiful album work. This is what every folk/pagan band wishes they could be. Each and every song is a masterpiece, save the pointless interlude.

Now I shall end this review with a closing remark:

I'm a HEEEEATHEN!!!! SEARCHING...FOR HIS..... SOOOOOOOOOUUUUUUUUUUULLLLLL!

I honestly wasn’t expecting much when I gave this album its first spin. I vaguely recalled being fairly unimpressed with their 2011 album “Redemption At The Puritan’s Hand” & found Alan’s vocals to be intolerable on the “All Empires Fall” DVD. My only other experience with Primordial was way back in the mid-1990’s & I think those brain cells are long gone by now. I must admit that the “folk metal” tag I’d seen them branded with recently was a very scary term for me but reliable sources had informed me that it was misguided & had highly recommended this release. The outcome is that I’m really glad that I gave this a chance because “To The Nameless Dead” is an outstanding metal album that utilizes Celtic metal & Pagan black metal to create a fresh sound all of their own.   

The opening three tracks are absolutely killer & I find Alan’s vocals to be much more enjoyable than on the live DVD. In fact the vocal hooks are quite memorable & are one of the album’s major draw cards. “Failures Burden” & “Heathen Tribes” are not quite as strong as the earlier tracks but the last couple of songs really bring it home nicely. The production has a warm & organic style that really suits the band & helps them to maintain an epic feel that draws on the spirit of early 90’s Bathory without really sounding like them that much. I’ll definitely be checking out more of Primordial’s material based on this effort.