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INTERVIEW WITH ALAN NEMTHEANGA (PRIMORDIAL) In 1996 there was an Irish band that immediately drew my attention. Not only musically but with poetry (some of the songs were sung in the old Irish language) and traditional influences from the island they made an innovative mix of cultural background and heavy riffs. That band, Primordial, has developed themselves to a regular supplier of more of that unique albums. They have just released their fourth full length album ‘Strom before calm’ and I was lucky to have a long talk with singer, poet and performer Alan before they hit the stage of Geel’s Bogaard Club, where an enthusiastic crowd could enjoy a handful of songs from the beginning until now.
You started in 1996 with ‘Inrama’, which was already a mix of poetry, metal and Irish roots. Now we have ‘Storm before calm’. Is it recorded in the Academy Studios again ? ‘Yes, we went back to the Academy during January 2002 and had some help from Mags again in recording, mixing and producing’. Very typical is the wall of sound of guitars with a constant melodic guidance … ‘We came from that second wave of black metal scene, so it’s not surprising that we still put some of that influences in our music. We never wanted to go away from our roots, but add new things, we mix our Irish roots with heavier stuff. ‘cause Irish influences is something that only the Irish people have’. I agree, Irish groups have most of the time that special mystical depth in their lyrics and music, like Therapy, Waylander, Arcane Sun … ‘There are influences from Thin Lizzy to the Chieftains in our music’. How long have you been listening to music ? ‘For a long time, we’re all between 26 and 30 years old, the base of the group was formed in 1987 when they were 12-13 years old. I joined them in 1991’. And you brought in the poetic historical lyrics ? ‘I always do the lyrics’ Did you write music before you were in Primordial ? ‘Oh yes, I always wanted to be in a band, so I wrote stuff before’. You went more and more into epic songs on ‘Spirit the earth aflame’ But on the new album there is one song with a real BM feeling ‘What sleeps within’. Can you describe the feeling you had when you wrote it ? ‘We liked to stay close to the feeling of the beginning with this song. BM is always heavy for us, the melancholic and Irish side on the other side. It shouldn’t surprise people. It was back to the roots with a demo kind of feeling. It all evolves, we never force changes, just add things and try to follow a natural path’. Can you tell us a little bit more about the writing process of the last album ? ‘It was quite stressful. Sometimes we had a bit of pressure’. From the record company ? ‘No, from ourselves. You need to have songs. You have a deadline for yourself : this is when we are going to make the album. Therefore it was some pressure to succeed’. So you had written all the songs and then went into the studio ? ‘I wish I could say we had a lot of songs, but we didn’t. Some songs were written on tour and sounded rougher, we made changes in the studio, but in the end it all got together and we were satisfied’. Is there some kind of concept, a main theme ? ‘There’s always a loose concept behind. We try to make lyrics that fit into the music. As for this one the concept is history, culture, how you see yourself in relation to history and in the great concept. But there is also a lot of personal stuff in it about finding yourself. So many deeds and actions happened before our time, we have to respect the heritage from our ancestors’. Another point that makes your music so interesting besides the depth of the lyrics, is the time you take to express yourself. It’s against the stressed society we’re living in, all goes faster and faster but it calms me down to listen to music like yours and Opeth. ‘I know what you mean. Primordial doesn’t fit in the fastfood culture. If people want 3 minutes songs, it’s not our style There’s a lot of depth into our songs and I want to scratch the surface a little deeper.’. As an outsider I’d like to have explained the mix of Irish and common names on the CD’s. You are Alan but on the first CD there is Naihmass Nemtheanga… ‘I think you won’t find my real name, which isn’t an Irish one, on one of the CD’s. Around ’93-’94 we took our names from the black metal scene. ‘Nem’ means ‘evil, dark’. ‘Theanga’ means ‘language I talk’. He of the dark, of the evil. It’s a link to the Irish roots because all over Europe we have to cherish our own culture’. That’s true and that is the joy of travelling. If every country gets flatted up with the same stores and mix of everything, the kick of discovering another culture will be vanished. I showed Alan some real old Irish notes from the seventies/eighties and the conversation continued with memories of the past, comparing the new euro’s and when bass player Pol joined us for a while the interest in different notes results in expanding all of our collections.
You are touring now in Belgium and the Netherlands, a small headlining tour with Mercenary and Callenish Circle. But you are coming back with Dismember, Ancient Rites in November ? ‘It supposed to be but last week it got cancelled. Dismember can’t do it and then the whole tour was cancelled. At the moment I think we got to tour with Tristania in January/February, maybe a little bit gothic eve. We need to tour after every album but not with a ‘no mercy’ package or so. We can’t tour with death metal bands anymore. Immortal was fine because we share some epic ideas. We can play with power metal bands, Blind Guardian should be fine but impossible. In the next month at least we can announce a tour I hope for the beginning of next year’. Do you all live in Dublin ? ‘We all come from Dublin except our guitar player Michael who was originally from Cork but he moved. We practise in Dublin. But two of the guys moved to the country, about one or two hours from the city. I am the cityboy, I live in Dublin all my life’. Where do you get your inspiration from : city or nature ? ‘It depends, it could be anything. I don’t try to analyse it too much. At home there is nature, sometimes it comes from travelling around in Europe, but there is also a lot of personal stuff in it. It all comes down on sharing a cultural experience with people’. Have there been important line-up changes ? ‘We have Michael now as a second guitar player, it should sound more complete, specially live we can come closer to the sound we all have in mind’. What are the main differences between ‘Spirit the earth aflame’ and the last one ? ‘There is not a huge difference. ‘Spirit’ is perhaps a little bit more methodic, more epic in a sense. The new one is a bit heavier. It’s got a better production and vast guitars. They’re not the same album, that’s for sure’. We talked about making a living for a metal band, which is still a hard thing to do, there are so many bands and labels now. About Dublin, being an expanded capital while the real Irish culture still lives in the West of the island. What can we expect tonight ? ‘It’s about a 80 minutes show with a mix of old and new songs. I still use paint, only for the live performances. It’s a strange stage with many levels, but I think things will work out fine’. And they did. Before an enthusiastic crowd, Primordial gave an unforgettable show where blackness and energy was mixed with some moments of inner reflection and cultural heritage. Let’s finish with the setlist of this concert (28/09/2002 – JH Bogaard – Geel) To enter pagan (Spirit the earth aflame) Fallen to ruin (Storm before calm) Burning season (Spirit the earth aflame) The darkest flame (Imrama) Sons of the morrigan (Storm before calm) The soul must sleep (Spirit the earth aflame) The heretics age (Storm before calm) Cast to the pyre (Storm before calm) Gods to the godless (Spirit the earth aflame) Autumn’s ablaze (A journey’s end) Encore : Infernal summer (Imrama)
Interview by Vera ‘Gothica’ |
