Primeval Well

I can't help but be drawn to any form of media labeled as either experimental or avant-garde. Not because "it's the only true form of art", as it elicits an interpretation of the spectator, but because there's no way of knowing exactly what to expect. In avant-garde metal, for example, I tend to expect the band to just be another one which mixes different genres in each song and calls it a day, and it doesn't work every time. So, seeing this band's genre as experimental folk/black metal already made me curious, but I really decided to give it a listen after reading what Primeval Well described themselves as: "Experimental Southern Gothic Black Metal". I didn't really hear the "gothic", but the rest fits the bill. It sure is experimental in its concept, but once you're set in, you'll find it more interesting and novel than uneven or confusing.

The band plays primarily black metal, but it's infused with southern rock influences that are spread throughout the album with bluegrass-style solos and folk-ish melodies. The guitars are raw, dirty and muddy, churning out fast dissonant riffs when they aren't accompanying the vocal lines, taking a step back to the background doing rhythm when the clean guitar solos come up. The drums don't stay behind, matching the guitars' speed with their own southern skank and blast beats. The vocals are your typical raspy black metal ones, but they are often joined by clean vocals that usually follow the melodies being played by the guitars. Overall, the production is loud and gritty, but the drums seem a bit muffled, while the harsh vocals are run throughout this distortion filter, as if being sung into a megaphone, and the cleans are drowned beneath the wall of sound. The solos end up almost being drowned out as well, as the guitars are pretty much the loudest instrument in here, and, coupled with everything else, seems to make for some audio clipping.

The album's atmosphere is set up from the beginning, with The Decayed Soldier (Non Terrenum Memoriae) making you feel as if you are near a campfire in the middle of the wilderness. The banjos and clean guitars play in the background as this siren sounds throughout before the distorted guitars come in, signaling that this wilderness is not so calm and friendly as you'd want it to be. Midnight Southern Folklore feels appropriately titled and serves as a nice calm middle point, with the banjo playing its tunes as crickets crick and owls hoot in the background. To Sleep in the Bone Garden, while seemingly making this a closed book, seems to indicate that the "Adventures 'Round the Primeval Well" are not yet done, with a banjo echoing amidst the desolate whooshing of the wind.

Strip this out of all the distortion, or even the metal, if you want to go all the way, and you'd still have a solid country album, as the compositions usually fit the overall upbeat atmosphere of the genre, except for when the guitars go dissonant on you. Hell, you could probably still dance to this as it is... just be careful of the coyotes that might be lurking nearby.