We all have at some point claimed that whatever band of whatever style is “the heaviest” in today’s modern climate. We could sit here all f**king day and debate it, but there are only a few select bands that people tend to agree upon when it comes to crushing heaviness. When it comes to the rising stars that are continuing to bring us new kinds of heaviness with each new edition of material, Primitive Man is very much a constant as their craft evolves in such a way to become both better overall as well as more voracious in nature. In virtually every sense of the word, it is with “Immersion” so stupendously heavy that it practically defies expectations and could even produce headaches for the uninitiated, yet it’s an album that is all the more fascinating because of it.
I cannot stress enough just how massive this album is. It really does feel like Primitive Man went way out of their way to create an experience that is not just a step further from the noise-coated brand of sludgy doom metal that they’ve been building up over the band’s career, but something that is meant to attack your very soul and siphon any form of light out of your mind by the end of this deceptively short work. I say deceptively short because sitting down to listen to “Immersion” feels like f**king forever. Not to say it’s bad and drags for forever, but every single second of “Immersion” is a literal assault upon the psyche of the listener to where you feel almost trapped by what Primitive Man has done throughout this six suffocating tracks.
It creates literal immersion of a unique kind that feels almost akin to that of Dante’s Inferno: there’s no hiding it nor from it, it’s ever-present, it’s all-devouring, and knows not how to spare anyone who dares come into its path. There’s rarely a moment where Primitive Man allows the bloodthirsty cacophony to give way to something even remotely accessible where the doom brings some riffs or the noise tones down to allow the headaches to pass, and even then it’s only the briefest of pauses as “Immersion” is not here to entertain but to torture and consume. I truly can’t think of any other band in all of metal that can make such a premise so interesting even as they do nothing to make themselves more accessible, and that’s just one of the many reasons why Primitive Man is a perplexing act as well as their continuously growing fanbase that’s clearly filled with masochists. And I f**king love it!
Of all the increasingly heavy albums that we’re to be getting this year, I think it’s safe to say that Primitive Man will yet again be the go-to name when it comes to the most dangerous band with the most carnivorous work. Every ounce of “Immersion” defies expectations of many sorts in a way that continues to astounds me even after listening to it many times over, and I’ve no doubt that many others will find a unique form of bliss in this malicious work that’s the very definition of a standout record.
“Immersion” releases on August 14th via Relapse Records! You can listen to singles from “Immersion” on Bandcamp here and pre-order the album via multiple sources here.
Track Listing:
1. The Lifer
2. Entity
3. Menacing
4. ∞
5. Foul
6. Consumption
