Rock Music Critic

	Primordial
	The Gathering Wilderness

	New and improved Bathory Light! Just kidding folks, Bathory is obviously no more (R.I.P, Quarthon) but the spirit still lives on. Primordial carry on in a similar vein: the songs are long and epic, and have a historical/fantasy/Scandinavian type tone. The difference is that the vocals are much cleaner and melodic. The production is probably a little bit better as well. I didn't really think all that much of this album the first time I listened to it. I didn't think it was bad, but it just didn't grab me, ya know? But I had a feeling that this might be an album that takes several spins for appreciation to set in, and I think I was right. The more I listen to it, the more I like it. It's kind of hard to classify this, because the vocals really keep it from being black metal, as do the plodding drums. No blast beats to be found here. The music ventures from loud and heavy to slow and doomish. But it's really too busy to be called doom. Viking metal perhaps? I dunno, if you have a good label for them, let me know. I think if you are into this type of metal and you have the patience to listen to it repeatedly, you will probably dig this disc. Most of the time I wouldn't have the patience for this, my attention span is pretty short these days, but something made me keep coming back to this.
TRACKLIST: The Golden Spiral The Gathering Wilderness The Song of the Tomb End of All Times (Martyr's Fire) The Coffin Ships Tragedy's Birth Cities Carved in Stone