Primordial Re-release Their Maiden Voyage in Irish Black Metal

BY Keith CarmanPublished Jul 30, 2009

Whenever someone mentions Irish black metal, an image comes to mind of dudes with wicked accents slugging pints of stout and screeching about the price of potatoes. In other words, it's really hard to imagine just how the land of such happy things as leprechauns and whisky could get involved in the ridiculousness that is conjuring Beelzebub and posing in graveyards while hyped-up on steroids.

That may seem nasty but how many Canadians do you really think are capable of the same? We're not exactly the black metal hot spot; we're too busy being drunk and apologetic to actually be that evil. Satan would probably roll his eyes at us more than anything.

Then we remembered just how shredding Ireland's number one black metal export, Primordial, actually are. Blasting out some severely bleak shrieks and hyperactive picking since 1991, the band prove there's more to Irish metal than all of that Pagan buffoonery.

That's why it's so great to see that Metal Blade has finally got around to giving their debut full-length, 1998's A Journey's End, the an over-the-top re-release.

It will feature a double CD digipack case that houses not only the remastered album but also a number of unreleased demos and live recordings. The booklet has been expanded to 16 pages and features new liner notes, interviews and photos. In order to maintain the original artwork, that material has been added into the digipack format, fleshing it out to six panels, and then the whole beast is packaged in a black linen slipcase with glossy golden hot foil print. May Satan bless Metal Blade for always going the extra mile on reissues.

A Journey's End will be available as of September 1, so you have about a month to save your pennies.

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