This is my Album of Second Chances. The first time I listened to Redemption (Metal Blade) I don't think I made it past through the first track. The next time I might have got past the first two tracks. I must have been listening to a lot of death metal or something because I just couldn't get past the vocals. But something told me to keep trying. If I ever find that something I'm going to buy it a horn of ale. I owe it at least that for saving me from potentially missing out on an outstanding album. I always thought Primordial was a black metal band. Probably due to the inclusion of the band in a black metal documentary I watched. But since this is the first Primordial album I've heard, I can't say how it compares to their previous work. I can hear flashes of black metal on Redemption but I don't hear it as a "Black Metal" album. What I hear is epic in every sense of the word. The sweeping melodies bring to mind rolling green hills and windswept cliffs. A.A Nemtheanga's vocals/lyrics hearken back to the days when kings meant something, battles were won with blood, not bombs, and man and nature coexisted in balance. Just listening to it makes me feel like more of a man. What I especially like about RATPH is how it is put together. Every individual performer is represented amazingly compositionally and/or production wise. AA tells the story. I croon along best I can but I can't match his timbre or command. I yearn to fully comprehend everything that he sings about. The guitars paint the picture beautifully and weave their tendrils around the pleasure centers in my brain. The tone and clarity (and the fact that I can hear it. Well. And always.) of Pól MacAmlaigh's bass warms my heart and soul like you wouldn't believe. The drums hold the whole thing together. The style and resurfacing themes that pop up in the drumming links all the songs together. I once tweeted that Primordial should soundtrack A Game of Thrones and I stand by that. Redemption at the Puritan's Hand makes me proud that I am of Irish ancestry.
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