Album Reviews

- by Tom Dumarey

What do you think of when you read about a new band featuring Darkest Hour’s John Henry and Dead To Fall’s Chad Fjerstad? Metalcore. Right? Which in my case is followed by a sigh. But don’t dismiss The Primals that easily. You will miss out on a highly entertaining album.

Produced by the genius that is John Reis (Rocket From The Cryps, Hot Snakes, Drive Like Jehu,…), these ten songs wash over you with thundering riffs, pummeling drums and Henry’s vocals which can go from singing to roaring screams in a matter of nanoseconds. Granted, that description could just as well make sense while writing about a metalcore song. But that’s not the case here on the band’s debut album, ‘All Love Is True Love’.

Rounded out by former The Explosion drummer Andrew Black, this trio deliver some of the most potent… well, let’s call it power-pop… that I have heard in a long time. Think of a heavier Foo Fighters or a poppier Nirvana with a side of Pixies.

They immediately pull out all the stops on opener ‘Hello Cruel World’, a song that will still leave you wondering if this is catchy or just plain heavy. Answer: it’s both. ‘Another World To Call Your Own’ is another barnburner with a helluva catchy chorus and ‘Pity City’ is already a strong song on its own, but those twinkly keyboards just help lift it to the next level.

And they don’t lose steam on the album’s second half. ‘The Wayward Impaler’ is a relentless grunge tune that keeps plowing ahead while the melancholy ‘Save Me, Baby’ and the crushing closer that is ‘I’m Coming Home’.

I’m curious to see what The Primals are up to next. Or even if there will be a next. After having heard ‘All Love Is True Love’, I sure hope this side-project won’t go down in history as a one time deal.

Track listing:

1. Hello Cruel World
2. Dead Predators
3. Another World To Call Your Own
4. Pity City
5. Fortune & Sons
6. The Wayward Impaler
7. It’s Personal
8. Together Whatever
9. Save Me, Baby
10. I’m Coming Home