Primitive Man - Immersion Review

 

A frigid breeze blows in through the open door, into the foyer of a modest, yet small house. It dances on the back of your neck, causing hairs to shoot up and send tension down your spine. Other than the whistle of the wind, and the exhalation of your breath, there is no noise. A man, small in size, lies bloody and beaten, dead on the ground. His face is unrecognizable; it has been mashed into a gruesome pulp, befitting of the large hammer resting in your fist. You stand, weapon in hand, gazing at the scene before you. Blood is spattered on cheap wallpaper opposite of an ascending stairwell. While the external silence continues to permeate the display, an unending and pounding noise echoes in your ears. This man has taken everything from you: your joy, your purpose, your future. In turn, you have robbed him of the same. Yet the rageful roar only grows louder, as the realization that the man's actions are irreversible. No matter your course of action, the trauma lives, your conflicts will continue to rage, and your existence grows darker. Each day will be stripped from your control by the hand of the omnipotent oppressor that lays ruin to each and everything, moment after moment. 

My stupid, edgy analogy forgiven, this is how I can put Primitive Man's sound into words. The amount of passionate animosity in Ethan Lee McCarthy's vocal performance matched with the hulking density of the Denver three-pieces' instrumentals are unrivaled in emotional zeal and aural displeasure. Everyone says this, but this is the heaviest group I have ever seen live. Their second to last show on their tour with Full of Hell was a majesty to behold, with five songs that dug into my skin and shook it with violent ferocity. The droning guitars, pounding tom-fills and cavernous vocals usually in the band's repertoire were on full display that night, which literally shook the little Middle East Downstairs to its core. As a huge fan of the 77-minute monolith Caustic, and soon after their 2013 debut Scorn, McCarthy and company did not disappoint and opened my eyes to how loud an amp and low a guitar can get. 

Immersion is the newest from the trio, and with it comes another year where Primitive Man releases the heaviest album in those 365 days. While the cover art may seem to just be a zoomed-in version of their 2019 split with fellow sludgemates Hell (a great release, by the way), the music can't exactly say the same. At a shockingly short 35-minutes, this album is without a doubt the most focussed material the band has put out to date, drawing from basically all of their previous material. "The Lifer" and "Foul" sound like condensed versions of the lengthier cuts from Caustic, with JDL's drum work guiding the tracks as JPC and ELM's strings send waves of distorted buzzing into the black void that encapsulates the sound. Big props to the production team on here, as this record is even more massive than those before it. 

"Menacing" and "Consumption" are my favorite tracks on the record, which both explode with sludgy barbarity cascade into slower, droning sections where the music envelops your senses with pure despondency and noise. Most of the songs hover between six and eight minutes, which is typical for the group, but these six in particular flow really nicely. Even the harsh noise interlude, "∞," (which would slot perfectly into ELM's Many Blessings catalog) fits very well in the middle of the record, splitting the singles from the back half. Only "Entity" feels a little out of place for the album, with a warbling guitar lead that works, but not as well as what the other cuts here display. But truly, Primitive Man isn't for everyone, and Immersion proves that. I can't really show this group to anyone that doesn't like metal, because it is that heavy. If you like sludge, doom, drone, or all of the above, you will enjoy this and continuously gawk at just how hard this music goes. As for where this stands in their discography, it is hard to tell. Their debut shows the group coming into their own, while Caustic and their many splits are their experimental teen years. But Immersion is a mature, calculated display of sludge/doom that is a stunning step for the band. It is easily one of the best records of the year but is by far the heaviest. Blast this album on full blast, and watch your house shake from its foundation.

Final Verdict: 'The loudest sound I can hear, the internal one screaming at me'

Favorite Tracks: "Consumption," "Menacing," "The Lifer"

FFO: Indian, Coffinworm, Thou

Track List:

1. "The Lifer"

2. "Entity"

3. "Menacing"

4. "∞"

5. "Foul"

6. "Consumption"

You can support Primitive Man on their Bandcamp.