Primeval Well - Talkin’ in Tongues with Mountain Spirits

Share this on Facebook | Share this on Twitter

To have a different set of ideas is an excellent strategy to become different in a world made of bands that are copying other all the time, is to be yourself, and not trying to be one in a musical cult of personality. These words can be explained in a simple way: no one can be BLACK SABBATH, METALLICA or other famous name, because they already exist. And no one can carry on what others left (one fine example can be the inheritance left by MOTÖRHEAD, because no one can be Lemmy). Those are the reasons that fuel works as “Talkin’ in Tongues with Mountain Spirits”, the second album of the North American quartet PRIMEVAL WELL.

They are playing a form of Black Metal with some Folk influences and a lot of experimental touches to make things work. It could be said as a combination between MAYHEM, DARKTHRONE, EMPEROR and others during the first half of the 90’s (their more classical days) with many Folk parts inherited from Country Rock and Progressive Rock (pay attention on what the band does on “She Flies Undead”). And it gives the band a different outfit that can be hard for the purists, but it’s personal and good. The production isn’t as good as their musical work demands. It seems to carry a need to fit on the Second Wave of Black Metal models, and it becomes a bit harder to understand what the band wants to express with its songs.

Musically, this album is showing a band with an amazing potential to become great. Take a bit on the long and nasty “Raising Up Antlers to Our Mountain Gods” (you’ll feel influences from Appalachian Folk music clearly in the middle of Black Metal arrangements), “She Flies Undead” (the Folk/Country touches are evident, and the cleaner vocals worked in a great way), “Ghost Fires Burn in Our Eyes” (an aggressive song filled with experimental parts and rhythms), the harsh and sometimes introspective approach used on “Talkin’ in Tongues with Mountain Spirits”, and the climatic “Where All Things Are Forgotten”. And it’s great to hear a band using themes that preserves the culture of the native North American people.

For now, all that’s left is to wish PRIMEVAL WELL good luck, and to enjoy what “Talkin’ in Tongues with Mountain Spirits” expresses.

Songwriting: 8
Musicianship: 9
Memorability: 9
Production: 6