PRIMORDIAL – A Journey's End CD

A Journey’s End fits wonderfully into the context of Primordial’s career. It probably comes off as their “softest” album, though I can’t really put my finger on why. I always think of it as an exceptionally melancholic doom album, but whenever I listen to it I’m surprised that much of it is at least as aggressive as the debut, with Bitter Harvest being one of their most extreme moments ever. Despite this, the atmosphere conveyed is rather dreamlike, and indeed this album boasts some of Primordial’s catchiest songwriting coupled with their tasteful use of repetition. With their second album, it was probably the common expectation for Primordial to return with an even more blistering and fierce interpretation of their debut, but instead they opted to turn inwardly for inspiration. This just goes to show that even in their younger days, Primordial have always been an incredibly professional band.