The Gathering Wilderness is the first album of Primordial on Metal Blade Records and man, what a debut it is. After releasing a couple of records, five to be exact, on minor labels, these Irish guys are finally on a major record label. Yeah, I said finally because I think they deserve it. Predecessor Storm Before Calm was a great album, but The Gathering Wilderness is even better.

This album is full of melancholic parts and the recognizable pounding drums. And when you thought the music was laden with melancholy, you definitely should listen to the vocals of Alan Nemtheanga. If that’s not melancholy and full of emotion, I don’t know. The lyrics are very serious and have a dark approach to the world we are living in.

But the lyrics don’t deal just with recent events of our world; “The Golden Spiral” is about the never ending binding between the Gods and mankind and The Coffin Ships is a song in which the band honors the memory of a famine that ravaged Ireland during the 19th century and the people who lost their lives during that famine.

All in all you could say that this is a goddamn great album and it is better than its predecessor (which got a 9 out of 10 ranking). I only got one thing left to say: get this album because I know you’ll love it. Once it gets to you, it’ll never let you go!