Author: Rok Klemše
Venue: Štuk, Maribor
Concert date: June 2, 2011
Attendance: 200
These days it’s not exactly common for bands to play here that our stages haven’t hosted before. Which is fine, of course, as long as the bands that deserve it come back every now and then. But when it was announced that, after so many years of existence, Primordial were finally coming to us, the heart skipped a beat. And why wouldn’t it? Primordial are one of the more unique bands out there, if not the most singular pagan metal band, if I can even slot them into that genre. A unique musical voice that has driven the band for 20 years, plus the unmistakable presence of the band’s “ideologue” Alan Averill, culminated this year in the new record Redemption At the Puritan’s Hand, proof of the group’s inexhaustible well of ideas. And it was precisely the tour for the new record that brought Primordial to us for the first time! In eminent company, too: France’s Alcest and the Americans While Heaven Wept.
First up on stage were the only (notable) representatives of the local folk metal scene, Brezno. The band recently went through some pretty noticeable and almost worrying lineup changes. Singer and flutist Ines Osina left, so Brezno were forced to look for replacement(s). They found them in singer Sara and flutist Eva, and with a violinist who has been in the fold for a while now, the band performs as an octet. Fittingly, the ŠTUK stage was more than big enough for such a numerous lineup, so they didn’t have to squeeze onto a tiny stage. The new lineup came across solid, even good, though you can tell they still lack some tightness and coordination on stage, but it’s perfectly understandable that with as many as eight instruments a mistake or two can slip in quickly. Brezno will need a few more gigs under their belt so the refreshed lineup gets used to each other and starts breathing as one. They certainly don’t lack drive, since they’re as energetic on stage as ever, and Sara is proof that even after losing a vocalist as strong as Ines, Brezno haven’t lost their identity. In fact, Sara sounds almost identical to Ines vocally. Whether that’s good or bad, I’ll leave to the band. I hope next time the sound works in the band’s favor too, since this time, at the expense of the backing vocals, only Sara’s voice really shone up front, and at the expense of the guitars, mostly the loudly mixed violin. The early hour and the still pretty empty ŠTUK hall didn’t help either, but Brezno confidently carried their set through to the end, with the closing hit, bouncy and sparkling, V nebo.
With the next band we drifted off into completely different waters, other worlds and unknown spheres. Right on schedule, the French four-piece Alcest stood on stage. Under the watchful eye and firm hand of mastermind Neige, the band started their musical journey in black metal, but tried out post-metal and shoegaze waters with their first studio album, and with the second one, Ecailles de Lune, anchored themselves firmly in meditative shoegaze. Neige builds the musical idea of Alcest around his childhood memories and daydreams of a fairytale world, which he wants to lead the listener into through the music. And it really works, because all you have to do is close your eyes and Neige takes you by the hand, on the wings of repetitive guitar patterns, dreamy vocals (at times almost too tender – and this is coming from a big Cynic fan, hehe) and the building of a mystical, ethereal atmosphere, into another world, a world of dreams, fairytales and innocent illusions. The quiet blue of the stage lights only boosted this effect, and it felt like we were locked in a soap bubble together with the band, floating over the land Neige describes in his lyrics. Personally, the effect dissolved for me after a few songs, since Alcest’s music can get monotonous and repetitive. I’d probably have to be in a state of mind where I could soak up the music without outside distractions to fully take in Alcest’s message, which Alcest deliver in their own, admittedly unique way. Or maybe the anticipation for the headliner was simply too strong this time. Still, the Frenchmen’s set stuck deep in my memory, mostly thanks to the fantastic performances of Printemps Emeraude and Les Iris and Winterhalter’s incredible, varied, dynamic and superbly mixed drumming.
And with the next act, too, we sailed off into new, different musical worlds. The Americans While Heaven Wept approach music in a much more direct way than Alcest, yet they remain unique and their own thing in their creative work. While Heaven Wept have been around for two decades and can easily be counted among the elder statesmen of American (epic) doom metal, together with Solitude Aeternus and Solstice (who also featured vocalist/guitarist Tom Phillips on vocals), for example. But this lineup didn’t stay firmly anchored in doom metal for long and started adding elements of progressive and power metal to its still solid foundation. That let the band create a fairly recognizable and unique sound, which maybe didn’t fit this particular bill all that well. That’s probably also why only twenty or thirty diehards followed the band. Still, While Heaven Wept played as if they were playing to a packed ŠTUK, full and with everything they had. The music itself spoke for the band’s quality, especially a few older gems like The Drowning Years and Of Empires Forlorn right at the start, though the band members’ stiffness was distracting, looking as if they were playing to themselves at a closed rehearsal. But energetic vocalist Rain Irving saved the whole thing, stunning everyone with his exceptionally convincing, mighty voice. The almost solemn atmosphere of the band came alive above all through the gorgeous vocal harmonies created by Rain and keyboardist Michelle. A very good set was spoiled only by the soul-crushing ten-minute improvised jam, which is a staple of every show the band plays, as guitarist Scott boasted. Oh well… I’d have rather heard the fifteen-minute epic The Furthest Shore from the album Vast Oceans Lachrymose.
And then it finally happened: the “backdrop” with the Primordial logo unrolled, the lights went down and the tension built in dramatic anticipation of the Irish band. One after another, Pol MacAmlaigh (bass), Ciaran MacUiliam (guitar), Simon O’Laoghaire, Michael O’Floinn (guitar) and finally the one-of-a-kind vocalist in corpse paint, Alan “Nemtheanga” Averill, with a bottle of Jack Daniel’s in his hand, took up their instruments. Alan announced they were coming from the Republic of Ireland and that no grave is deep enough, and with the first track off the band’s new masterpiece, Redemption At the Puritan’s Hand, No Grave Deep Enough, the journey across the dark plains of the masters of epic-tinged metal began. Uniquely their own, only Primordial! With the very first song the crowd became the sixth member of the band and energetically followed it from the very start to the very end. All thanks to the charismatic frontman Nemtheanga, who radiates some kind of mystical energy that sucks you into the world of Primordial in an instant. Averill phenomenally channeled the lyrics with a resolute, thunderous voice, now bitter and world-weary, now resolute, aggressive and brutal. Just like he chameleon-like transforms from the polished Alan Averill (Dr. Jekyll) into a terrifying giant draped in white corpse paint (Mr. Hyde)! Flirting with the audience and with dramatic gestures that wouldn’t look out of place on the theater stage, Nemtheanga skillfully controlled the crowd, more than successfully urged it to join in, and addressed us all the time as “my friends”. Even though it’s a fact that the incredible Averill takes all the stage attention, it would still be unfair to say Primordial are only him. Far from it, since MacUiliam is the one most responsible for the epic arrangements and the insane build-up of atmosphere, all with seemingly simple chord structures. Primal yet mighty, without pretentious solos and embellishments. On top of that, Primordial aren’t without almost “tribal” drumming, responsible for the band’s primal, pagan nature, which comes out nicely especially in As Rome Burns. It was incredible to see how well the brand-new songs from the new album work live, especially the demonically wicked Lain With the Wolf, during which the entire hall held up “horns” at Alan’s command. The energy in the hall kept building nonstop and peaked in classics like Autumn’s Ablaze and The Coffin Ships, during which Averill said he never thought an Irish band would be singing a song about the Irish famine in Slovenia after twenty years of existence. Far too soon it all came crashing down with the epic treat that makes the heart tremble, the nihilistic yet very real Empire Falls. “Every Empire Will Fall, Every Monument Crumble!”. Exclusively for ŠTUK, Primordial also played Gods to the Godless and, for the first time on the tour, Heathen Tribes. It was over and there was silence, and among the toppled monuments, the last remnants of civilization, only ash still smoldered. But the mighty and timeless sound of Primordial will live forever! Just like the memory of Primordial’s first show here, which can only be “faulted” for the band completely ignoring the albums Imrama and Storm Before Calm. “So heretics I call to you/Partisans stand as one/Rebels raise your voice/If not then all is lost”!
Photos: Nina Grad
Setlist
PRIMORDIAL:
1. No Grave Deep Enough
2. Gallows Hymn
3. As Rome Burns
4. Lain With the Wolf
5. Autumn’s Ablaze
6. Bloodied Yet Unbowed
7. The Coffin Ships
8. Death of the Gods
Empire Falls
– encore –
9. Gods to the Godless
10. Heathen Tribes
Photo Gallery
