Once, Carthage was one of the most powerful cities along the Mediterranean coast. The Phoenician metropolis was renowned for its advanced harbors, formidable navy, and unrivaled status as a commercial force. It was here that Hannibal Barca was born — the infamous general who led his war elephants across the Alps in a bold attempt to bring the Roman Empire to its knees. But in 146 BCE, during the Third Punic War, the city finally fell. Rome razed Carthage to the ground, and for centuries its ruins lay silent under the scorching North African sun — until now.
In modern-day Carthage, near today’s Tunis, the extreme metal band Primordial Blackemerged in 2022. Rooted in both black and death metal, the band embraces an uncompromising sound and vision, steeped in mysticism, decay, and historical resonance. In 2024, they released their first EP, Monas Heiroglyphica, via the independent label Masters of Kaos Productions. The title references a 16th-century alchemical symbol by John Dee, underscoring the band’s esoteric leanings and philosophical depth.
On their forthcoming debut album, Primordial Black make a bold statement with two high-profile guest appearances that highlight the band’s growing international presence. On the track Sowing Discord, none other than Sakis Tolis of Greek black metal legends Rotting Christ delivers a blistering vocal performance. His weathered, commanding voice adds an extra layer of menace to the song — a thematic invocation of division and ritualized chaos. Tolis’ contribution integrates seamlessly into the album’s atmospheric weight and signals Primordial Black’s expanding reach within the global black and death metal spheres.
Also featured is the enigmatic Maxime Taccardi — a musician and visual artist known for his work with Kyūketsuki and Griiim, and infamous for fusing performance art, horror aesthetics, and sonic extremity. Taccardi lends a haunting, hallucinatory vocal passage to the album’s grim closing moments, intensifying its sense of ritual violence and existential dread. His appearance is as unsettling as it is captivating, reinforcing the avant-garde slant of Primordial Black’s creative vision.
Though often labeled as a blackened death metal band, it’s clear that the black metalelement takes precedence — both sonically and thematically. Icy melodies, dissonant harmonies, and layered atmospheric build-ups lend the music a dark, almost esoteric depth that transcends pure aggression. For that reason, it’s the heavier, more brooding tracks that resonate most — at least personally. These are the moments where the band reveals its full potential: the trance-inducing intensity of black metal fused with the visceral weight of death metal.
There are several standouts, but three tracks rise unmistakably to the top. Dark Matter Manifesto is a pummeling, cosmic storm-ride where blast beats and dissonant riffs merge into a near-ritualistic experience. Sowing Discord, featuring Sakis Tolis, serves as a demonic hymn to chaos and division, driven by foreboding guitar layers and a relentless build. Finally, Din of thy Celestial Birds closes the album on a near-apocalyptic note — majestic, melancholic, and steeped in a cosmic nihilism that lingers long after the final note.
It is in these tracks that Primordial Black most powerfully asserts its identity — not through technical showmanship or speed, but through the ability to conjure a suffocating world where the spiritual and the destructive walk hand in hand.
85/100
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