The Primeval That Men Do

Little known in their home country, Primordial have a strong cult following amongst metal aficionados around the world. As frontman Alan Nemtheanga explains, the ready made international network of hard rock fans has given Primordial an invaluable outlet to build an audience.

“When we started in the early ’90s, we didn’t have any interest in making it, so to speak,” he says. “We were involved in what we called the underground, which in that time, pre-internet, was a network of people trading tapes and fanzines. We made a demo for 50 old pounds, and then we virtually sold them one by one through the post, thanks to this readymade network. It went everywhere from Malaysia to South America, Canada to the Middle East.
“Realistically, as far as I can see, that fanatical support doesn’t really exist for bands in other genres. Primordial could play in Venezuela or Colombia, and people will show up with South American bootleg versions of the album.”
Does Alan feel that the band’s achievements haven’t been properly acknowledged in Ireland?
“It used to be frustrating, maybe seven or eight years ago, but now we couldn’t care less,” he shrugs. “There’s a terrible patronising edge when the indie press discuss metal. But it doesn’t match up. In other countries, great metal bands are just considered classic rock – Motorhead, Iron Maiden or AC/DC coming through town is no different to the Rolling Stones. Iron Maiden will pull 30-40,000 people in Dalymount, but you’ll never hear it on the radio.
“AC/DC just did Punchestown and the O2, which by rights means you should probably hear them on the radio all the time. But you don’t – you’ll hear someone who can’t sell Whelan’s out every hour. We couldn’t care less. The fact that heavy metal has an outsider status suits our mentality very well.”
That outsider status hasn’t always sat well with the authorities. On Primordial’s website, it mentions that the band’s 1996 gig in the Athy GAA hall was raided by the police.
“In the late ’80s and early ’90s, being into metal in Dublin meant you were in a fight every single weekend,” recalls Alan. “Just for having long hair, you were fighting with scumbags. Dublin was rough. Down the country, you could play everywhere from the floor of the local bar to the GAA hall, and invariably it ended in a fucking mess. Ireland is now in a different era, but coming up in that time, it at least gave us a certain kind of grounding.
“Some of the bands coming up now, they’re part of the MySpace generation, and they expect everything instantly. We predate that, and all of those experiences give you a bit more character.”
In addition to gigging, 2009 also finds Primordial re-releasing some of their earlier material.
“Metal Blade managed to prise our first four albums from our old labels,” notes Alan. “We’re trying to keep the entire body of work with one label, which has been quite difficult. The first one came out a few months back, and the following three, from ’94 to 2000, will all come out this year. Some of them have them been deleted for a while and people have been bootlegging them, so we’re trying to counter that.”