PRIMORDIAL
One of the most impassioned and erudite figures in the extreme metal scene, Primordial frontman Alan Averill is now aiming his fire at the narcissistic nature of our modern age
Ireland’s exhilarating rabble-rousers take aim against the modern age.
"If you’re spending a lot of time online, many of the negativities of modern society are completely amplified. You have to put it into perspective to turn the volume down sometimes, and that can be very difficult for people, because they’re victims of the algorithms that perpetuate the whole thing. So I do feel like a man out of time, but if I look through the window now, the world outside is still turning, you know?”
There was a time when most of what came out of Alan Averill’s mouth could broadly be described as dogmatic. One of the principal reasons that Primordial struck such a resounding chord with underground metal fans back in the mid-90s was the Irishman’s self-evident disdain for compromise. More than two decades on, a conversation with the band’s idiosyncratic frontman is still like being caught in a whirlwind of sharp ideas and strange detours, but these days Alan cuts a noticeably more measured and reflective figure. You can hear it in his voice on Primordial’s remarkable new album, Exile Amongst The Ruins, wherein the singer’s trademark fire and fury is underscored by a palpable world-weariness, as he mourns modern life’s rapacious abandonment of edified thought in favour of instant gratification and relentless selfies.
“I think that we’ve done a good job recently of throwing out all of the good values that, for instance, my grandparents had,” he states. “A sense of community and all of those things, they’ve been replaced with absolute ego-driven narcissism on social networks, this sort of identitarian authoritarianism, this victimhood mentality and so on. The album speaks about that suicidal malady, but also that there are a lot of positive things to state about our past.”
On a musical level, Exile Amongst The Ruins is arguably Primordial’s most adventurous and bold to date. From the slow-burning, venomous majesty of opener Nail Their Tongues to the austere restraint of Stolen Years, it’s still firmly rooted in the band’s unmistakable musical world, but previously rigid boundaries are clearly being gently but purposefully warped. Meanwhile, Alan’s lyrical preoccupations have seldom been more acutely focused.
“For me, this album is partly about the values of the Enlightenment,” he notes. “It’s about those fundamental ideas of rational debate, of empiricism, the separation of church and state, mathematical analysis. I think we’re leaving behind our scientific principles for this kind of anti-intellectualism, along with a new theocratic edge inspired by the narcissism of social networking and so on. I realise people will see me say this stuff on their social media timeline one day and be like, ‘Oh Jesus, Alan, lighten the fuck up!’ Ha ha! But unfortunately we live in an era of low culture and everyone is defined in opposition and by outrage.”
Perfectly aware that anything he says could be swiftly and unthinkingly misconstrued, Alan picks his words carefully these days. Having frequently ruffled feathers in the past with his political views, he admits to being doubly frustrated by the way people are bullied into picking one of two sides in any supposed debate. This even extends to the metal scene itself, where the slenderest of rumours that a band might harbour racist views invariably leads to a apoplectic knee-jerk reaction and a total lack of rational discussion, particularly online. For Alan, a self-confessed “free speech absolutist”, such hysteria represents the thin end of a brutally censorious wedge.
“I end up thinking, ‘Is that really the world you want, where everybody who has a different viewpoint from you is stifled?’” he shrugs. “Because what you’re doing is feeding that same algorithm, the one designed to keep everybody at each other’s throats. Why not just spread your energy towards something more positive? You really think the next Reich is coming from a bunch of heavy metal musicians? Ha ha! Again, it’s part of this wave of anti-intellectualism and the disappearance of rational debate.”
A unique and complex band that, you might argue, belong to another, simpler time, Primordial have much more to commend them than their frontman’s keen intellect, but it’s hard to deny that Alan Averill is one of the great heavy metal paradoxes of our time. Exile Amongst The Ruins is a deeply progressive piece of work, both musically and in terms of the enlightened values and principles that are being so bombastically defended, and yet Alan is also notorious for his unerring devotion to the values and principles of black metal and all things old-school. In this realm, at least, he has no interest in debate of any kind.
“I’m very proud that my ideology about black metal hasn’t moved an inch since 1992. It’s exactly the same,” he insists. “I tell people that I admire orthodoxy. I don’t want to be openminded when it comes to black metal. It’s a precious thing. In a world where you’re told and taught that nothing has any meaning, having this commitment to some kind of abstract idea, I admire that. I admire the orthodoxy of traditional metal and black metal. Sorry, but I just don’t want hip hop beats in it.”
As much as the pejorative ‘elitist’ is bandied around far too frequently and lazily in the metal world, the debate about what is or isn’t real metal seems likely to go on forever. Having nailed his own colours firmly to the mast, most notably with
"I DO FEEL LIKE A MAN OUT OF TIME"
ALAN AVERILL FINDS HIMSELF A STRANGER IN A STRANGE LAND
Bathory-inspired epic metal crew Twilight Of The Gods, Alan could easily get drawn into the online melee on a daily basis, but once again he seems to have mellowed a little.
“In every scene, aren’t there always active and passive people?
There are always the committed and the passengers. It’s probably the same in jazz, folk, blues or electronic music. One of my cousins is a DJ and I went to see him play a couple of years ago. He said to me, ‘Look at all the fucking high heels!’ I didn’t understand what he meant. He said ‘People used to come here to dance, but now it’s full of middle-class girls in high heels…’ Ah fuck, OK, now I get it. He said, ‘Now watch…’ When he did his DJ set, there was a succession of girls in high heels coming up to request songs from the charts, because electronic music is apparently not what it was 10 or 15 years ago. I said, ‘You elitist cunt, you’re just like me’ Ha ha ha!”
Standard-bearers for substance in a world that’s losing its soul, Primordial are steadily approaching elder statesmen status. Twenty-two years on from their debut album, they are one of black metal’s biggest, most acclaimed bands and their frontman is more ferociously focused than ever before. Ultimately, heavy metal that blazes with this much power is always worth taking seriously. Up to a point.
“With this music, you ask people to be committed,” he concludes. “I think we live in a society where young men are encouraged not to grow up. Pop music is now basically for 12-year-old girls. Go to the cinema and look at what’s advertised, and I guarantee that half of the films will be cartoons. Maybe it’s the same reason why grown-ups listen to Alestorm. It’s all designed to keep men between the ages of 30 and 50 in a state of perpetual adolescence, and part of me thinks, ‘Shame on you! Grow the fuck up!’”
He looks genuinely furious and exasperated before breaking into a broad grin.
“Then people say, ‘People just want to have fun and you’re a grumpy old prick!’ and that’s absolutely true, too. Ha ha!”
EXILE AMONGST THE RUINS IS RELEASED ON MARCH 30 VIA METAL BLADE
"I DON'T WANT TO BE OPEN-MINDED WHEN IT COMES TO BLACK METAL"
ALAN AVERILL BELIEVES ALL EDIFICES NEED THEIR FOUNDATIONS