Storm Before Calm (Hammerheart~2002)
This being my first exposure to Primordialīs music, I had high expectations. I knew this Irish band has been around for many years and is highly regarded. I also had read of the band being influenced by the likes of old Slayer and Metallica. I must have had the wrong idea because my expectations were not met by this album, which provides excellent drumming but little else to make me want to come back to it in the future. There are some decent moments here and there, but the rather bland guitar work and ineffective vocals (which too often have a speaking quality about them) keep the music from taking flight. The songs tend to be too long and would often be lifeless without the drums, which are excellent but not enough to make this anything more than an average album. The most compelling guitar parts are the acoustic ones and thatīs not good news for a heavy metal album.