Biography
Primitive Graven Image was formed in 2006 in Buckinghamshire, UK by guitarists and brothers Rob and Luke Lehane aka Ljosalfur and Dokkalfur, out of a love for the traditional black metal style. Immortal, Darkthrone and Emperor were the flavour of the day and a 6 track demo of spontaneous, infectious blackness was swiftly kicked into shape.
In just 2 months, the band were offered a deal and signed to Pennsylvania based Open Grave Records, who released the band's demo to the press as a sign of things to come. The band's debut album "Traversing The Awesome Night" was released in May 2007 in the midst of the enthusiasm, provoking good responses from the black metal underground and beyond in the USA, Europe, Australia, and the UK alike, putting the band on the black metal map almost immediately.
A live show of unrelenting fury was swiftly put together. Drummer Matt “Vordhr” Platts, previously of the pre-Akercocke "Salem Orchid" line up, and more recently of Interlock and Empyreal Destroyer, was soon convinced, and was followed shortly afterwards by Bassist Joshua “Mjolnir” Langford Coxon, who took up the remaining five strings. Debuting the live show at Chesham's Fusion festival on 07/07/07 - a truly magickal date - the band won the audience over with a set of warp speed blast beats, deranged groove, tribal fury and sheer intensity resulting in the band being invited back to headline the festival the following year.
Working now as a fully functional four piece, work began on a new album. Starting in Winter 2007, in a place that would come to be known as ‘The Black Metal Farm’ in nearby Gerrards Cross, new material was written, recorded, re written, re reordered, scrapped, programmed, mixed and remixed until the end of 2008(!) when the band caught the attention of Russ Russell (Napalm Death, Dimmu Borgir) and the material was taken to Parlour Sound studios in Northampton for him to work his magic upon the bands home recordings.
The new material was debuted at a few gigs around England around this time, plus Winterfest in Cork, Ireland, where Primitive Graven Image shared the stage with the likes of Amon Amarth and Skyclad. An appearance at Bloodstock Open Air in 2009 finally cemented the bands reputation as a live act, drawring a huge crowd and finally catching the eye of the more mainstream metal press.
By this time, Open Grave Records had closed its doors, but the band saw it as a sign of bigger and better opportunities to come. After negotiating a deal with independent label Voiceprint, ‘Celebrating Impending Chaos’ was released worldwide on the Envenomation imprint in April 2010 (May 2010 for North America and Canada). Diverging from the traditional black metal style slightly, the new material features influences ranging from the epic death metal of Nile to the beautifully misanthropic noise of PGI’s fellow countrymen Anaal Nathrakh and The Axis Of Perdition. A dose of 70s progressive rock may just be heard bubbling away in the background, whilst chaotic thrash riffs weave in and out of melodious and sometimes highly atmospheric black metal.
Following a good press reaction, 2010 saw the band hit the road properly for the first time for "Touring Impending Chaos", clocking up a few festival appearances including London's Enblackened with Abgott and Xerath, and Deathworks festivals in Bradford with bands such as De Profundis, Eastern Front, Onsetcold and Teutoburg Forest, along with a few Terrorizer Grindhouse shows and a mini tour with Skaldic Curse, Ghast and Throes. The band will see the year out at Manchesters "Show No Mercia" fest on December 19th alongside Winterfylleth and Wodensthrone.
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