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GARDAÍ IN WICKLOW town are investigating a collision that left a man in his 20s dead.
The single-vehicle collision occurred at Milltown Lane, Ashford in county Wicklow at around 11.50pm last night.
The 22-year-old was fatally injured when the car he was driving crashed into a ditch.
A 26-year-old male passenger received minor injuries and was removed to St. Colmcille’s Hospital in Loughlinstown.
The road is currently closed to facilitate a Garda forensic examination and local diversions are in place.
Gardaí are appealing for witnesses to contact Wicklow Garda Station on 0404-60140, the Garda Confidential Line 1-800-666-111 or any Garda Station.
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Good article and nice to see them being acknowledged here, but the bitterness coming from them is frustrating or maybe it’s just how it’s being edited.
They seem to have conveniently forgotten there is loads of great alternative music coming out of Ireland, and it’s actually been better than ever.
And yes it is alternative. It’s just not metal.
Being an avid music fan and in the past an avid metal fan, and having played in a metal band if there is one thing hardcore metallers are seriously guilty of is music snobbery, compare to fans of other genres.
To them alternative doesn’t just mean non mainstream pop, it doesn’t mean folk inspired indie rock or electronic music. It doesn’t even just mean metal. When they say alternative they mean truly alternative, counter cultural, progressive and challenging musical and cultural preconceptions. They mean groups that aren’t afraid to alienate or incite people. I don’t hear much of that in Ireland but I suppose that doesn’t mean it isn’t there
Good point, but you’d be lucky to see much of that in any country. And to see much of it would defeat the purpose of what it is.
Also, primordial aren’t even an example of what you describe.
To me, there’s only 2 kinds of music :
Good Music and Bad Music. I’ve never heard of these guys, but fair play to them. I’d be open minded enough to give them a listen too …
“Averill wonders where are the bands railing against the poverty, violence and religious oppression in Ireland.”
I have to say, if this article is not a parody, thus guy comes off a complete knob. The photographs of him look like something from This Is Spinal Tap.
All this “cultural periphery” nonsense. Where are all these “new romantics” from the 80′s?, working in middle class jobs no doubt.
I’ve seen their videos on youtube and Richie Kavanagh and Irish country musicians have 3 or 4 times as many hits, but you don’t hear them moping around, and the latter can complain about being ignored!
Remember in the 80′s Thin Lizzy, U2, Rory Gallagher, the Dubliners, etc, were hugely popular and loved and never complained about being from Ireland. They were successful because they were talented.
The Boomtown Rats however moaned about nobody buying their records and painted themselves as victims, ….. because they were awful.
There’s a lesson in that. And still seems to repeat itself in some Irish people.
Rory Gallagher was another artist that got more respect abroad than at home.
I loved Rory Gallagher, was at the the mountain dew festival in macroom back in ’78, friend and myself hitched from tipp it was worth it – a truly mind blowing experience.
Such a talent, such a loss.
The greatest Molly. No one could touch those hands he had
When are they going to rename Cork Airport after him?
(Probably after it gets closed down)
@thetruth, never a truer word spoken.
What’s a provisional town?
dundalk…………..
“Provincial” probably. The sort of minor mistake an proper proofread catches that a spell checker doesn’t!
It’s a town that you jog around e.g, the streets of Carlisle, Dublin, Dundee, Humberside,
Unless its U2 main stream media dont want to know or see these bands as news worthy
Ye, the media has an obvious bias toward giving coverage to things people are interested in, its total bs.
What a nice surprise to see an article like this posted. I remember listening to ‘To the nameless dead’ back in the day thinking: Why does no one know this amazing local band?
Also, did anyone else have to look at that flamespitting picture again because they thought it was Till Lindemann?
Im interested in taking out an ad in the journal. How much did this one cost??
No disrespect to the band..
But the level of advertising being pushed as news stories is a disgrace.
Get a life.
get a minical!
Just watching the Electric picnic on the TV it’s a great show but why do they keep having that Eoghan clown interrupting the music
The presenting on it is horrendous- based exactly on the Glastonbury coverage so it’s really not working, they’re coming across as spoilt unfortunately.
Watching a music festival on tv is wrong on so many levels
The RTE EP coverage is embarrassing.
“The interview I did with Foals was so bad we won’t be showing it” what a gob_sh_ite
I agree with him in saying that Ireland’s a conservative nation.you only have to go to other European countries and see the freedoms they take for granted compared to the mindnumbing boring existance the govt are forcing on us here.
What freedoms are you talking about Sid?
Dermot, have you ever had the experience of being even slightly different in this country? It could be not drinking, dressing differently or being into alternative music……….you are treated as an alien
I lived in Holland for a number of years, great place. I find here’s very bland and unforgiving of any diversity,we are a Catholic right wing country where the cityscapes are becoming like the UK. I lived there too. I was listening to some Dutch tourists last week in the media commenting on the marchs about the girl who was forced to have her baby, do you remember, the girl who was raped. They were saying it looked like stepping back in time being here. I felt the same when I came back to.
You lived in Holland and you find here bland?
Right so.
Did you live there too? I was involved in the squat life and met all sorts there. You can’t possibly say that Ireland’s more diverse than Holland. So do you also disagree with the band’s opinion on here too. I think your just having a laugh.
Plus one Alan. Holland is as bland a country you will get. Im there every week & its a dreary place. Germany is a far better country.
I listened to these 20 years ago. My cousin sent me one of their tape as she was friends with some band members. I liked them, but as a teenager preferred the Norwegian black metal… Darkthrones’ Blaze in the northern sky was played to death!
Great feature by Aoife Barry, but I would take issue with Darragh O’Leary saying that mainstream media is not interested. I’m interested and I’ve done lots on metal for The Irish Times as has the excellent author of this feature and others. I was on the John Murray Show recently talking about metal as was Darragh. It doesn’t get any more mainstream than that. It depresses me too the hostility and ignorance of heavy music that exists in Irish society, but I don’t despair. I do my best to change that as a journalist working in mainstream media. I would say though there is far too much insularity and self-pity in Irish metal, and a lack of desire to convert or persuade people. Metal is not for everyone, but for those who love it, it is a lifelong passion, the most complex and rewarding music genre there is. I keep the faith. \m/
probably because metal in the last 15 years or so just bores the socks off most forward thinking heads. Whistles, accordians, wailing literature etc ain’t going to convince us its something different. It’s either good or bad and nothing has changed since the early 90s.
The most complex genre? You obviously just listen to Metal, I think thats part of the problem, talk about open minded, I’ll open it for you!
I agree Paudi that an awful lot of Irish folk metal is terrible. As for it being the most complex, I stand by that statement and I listen to a lot of mainstream music too.
Because we’re not like Finland and their obsession with cack metal music
Actually pretty much all Scandinavian countries have a good metal following.
Before you post, you should ask “am I john snow?”
Cos you know nothing….
Bands like Nightwish and HIM prove Finland has anything but cack metal music (and I hope that bear hurt you)
Ok we are not like all of Scandinavia and there obsession with cack metal music. Yes all metal is cack, I said it and the bear agrees with me
Says the man who’s proud of buying the Racey ‘Some Girls’ single.
I’m away to throw myself down a flight of stairs
I really hope it hurts
I hate the phrase “cut their teeth”. cliche bullshit. they sound like dicks too
You sound like a dick yourself.
Maybe this article doesn’t present him in a very balanced light, but he does come across as kind of a dick.
Great article Aoife!
Predator, Killer Watt, Dream Weaver and Moral Crusade some of the best Irish metal bands from back in the day, off the top of my head.
There’s a really good new Irish band at the moment, they’re from Wicklow but are based over in England now because the market just isn’t here to grow a following. They’re called Shattered Skies and they’re releasing their first album soon, their EP Reanimation is fantastic.
Good article, nice to read something highlighting a different scene. Another hugely popular & successful band you could mention from an alternative scene.. Blood or Whiskey. Not metal though, but still..
See also: VNV Nation- their singer grew up in Dublin and they headline goth/industrial festivals with 20-25’000 attendance but never get any attention in the Irish media…
And at the same time Garth Brooks sold out five nights in Croker.
There is no alternative in this country.
Ah yes I forgot about him I loved jj72
I am lucky enough to have served my time (pardon the pun) working in a rock bar in Dublin and have met and listened to so many Irish alternative bands including Alan and Primordial. The sub-culture, because that is what is is, has been so largely dismissed and brushed aside with ‘fads’ like ‘teenage emo ‘s’ and ‘smelly rockers’. Bands like this work hard, travel far and have thousands of die hard fans all over the world! Ireland has not got the ability to accept these alternative styles and I don’t see that changing! my two daughters, both a little like their parents, love punk and rockabilly, metal and hardcore. I hope they have the strength of These guys and ladies to stay strong in themselves and listen to whatever makes them happy, for as long as it does that.
Rant over….
Had a listen to a few tracks there.Not bad,reminds me of Def Leppard.
#onlyloudnoise
Shouldn’t you be in bed grandpa?
Primordial are undoubtedly the best Irish band the moment and have been for a good few years. Its nice seeing them get some coverage, a similar article ran in the Indo last year before last years redemption fest. If you live here and like metal you really ought to give them a try, songs with real meaning inspired by history, thought, Irish literature and poetry mean they can claim to actually producing genuine art.
They’re a cracking live band as well. A live performance of Empire Falls is easily in my top 5 live music experiences
“the biggest Irish band since Thin Lizzy at the time of Thunder and Lightning” and now “the best irish band”
I think many will disagree with both those statements – inserts ‘metal’ to help ease the arrogance or we can add ‘underground’ for the domestic audience.
This is surely a paid advert.
If they were that big They would definately have appeared on the late late show at some stage!
Patrick that’s a silly comment….your forehead never appeared on the late late
Name me anyone genuinely famous who hasn’t appeared on the late late show! !!!!
Dustin the turkey, Richie kavanagh, pat short. All worldwide stars in their own right. It’s the late late show that made them!!!
“We sell more records than most of the bands that are on the cover of Hotpress.”
I can’t work out how many records Primordial have actually sold, and unfortunately the article doesn’t really provide any tangible evidence to support the claim that they’re “huge worldwide”, so I did a quick analysis:
1. I did a google image search for Hotpress covers which (excluding non-musicians) yielded the following sample:
The Script (twice), Maud in Cahoots, Phil Lynnott (twice), U2 (thrice), Cathy Davey, The Informatics, Lisa Hannigan, Reko (?), Plan B, Dave Grohl, Geln Hansard, Morrissey, Damien Dempsey, Elvis Costello, Protobaby, Paolo Nutini, Katy Perry, Lana Del Rey, Robert Smith (of The Cure).
2. To do a rough comparison of popularity, I compared YouTube hits for Primordial against the above artists.
3. Maud in Cahoots, The Informatics and Protobaby have very low numbers (and I’ve never heard of them). I don’t know who Reko are – I’m not sure if it’s a music act and I could’t tell which YouTube videos were theirs.
4. Cathy Davey and Damo Dempsey seem _roughly_ in the same league as Primordial.
5. Every other artist in the list ABSOLUTELY DWARFS Primordial in terms of YouTube hits. By orders of magnitude.
Is it reasonable to question whether these guys are quite the worldwide sensation that the article asserts?
Also, European tastes wouldn’t convince me that their audiences know better. Places like Greece etc, it is like stepping into the 1980s, early 90s metal scene. Progression?
Imrama was the best :-)
When their last Album was out, I saw it in several record shops in Germany, including mainstream ones like Mediamarkt. I have literally never heard of them in Ireland, but have in Germany, Italy and Norway. Niche genres always have a tough time in Ireland, unfortunately. I respect them for being ambitious enough to see beyond that!
It’s not my kind of music by a long shot but you have to respect their success world wide….Ireland is not the centre of the music industry so because they are realtively unknown here it doesn’t mean they are not massive.
Cannot forgot about the advent of dance music in the late ’80′s. A lot of people who would have been into metal previously got into trance, electronica etc etc.
I thought “Wizards of Firetop Mountain” was a show on the Disney Channel. You learn something new every day.
Because Ireland is into boybands big time.One Erection and Westgetalife rule (sarcasm)
The only Irish metal band I rate are Wreck of the Hesperus.
In case you haven’t had the pleasure, Wikipedia describes them as follows: “The band’s style of music is a particularly slow and heavy form of Sludge Doom, with guttural vocals and stoner doom influenced guitar riffs.”
Level of their popularity reflects their greatness. No band playing challangeble music should complain on that.
Why is Altar of Plagues not mentioned? They’ve been all over the media all over the world like a bad rash up until their break-up last year. Other great Irish metal includes Wolfbait (hardcore/noise), Comply or Die (punk), Mourning Beloveth (doome metal), For Ruin (VERY melodic death metal) etc etc.
As regards good non-metal Irish bands I’d go for the Dudley Corporation (like Sonic Youth) and Legion of Two (noisey dub)
The Irish original music scene is non existant..
Why such bitterness towards it?
It would be great to see metal gain more support but it isnt supported because the majority of people arent into it! Stating the obvious here but really these lads sound very bitter when really they should be delighted to be making a living at doing what they love instead of pissing and moaning about it.
Believe me, there’s a hell of a lot more talented musicians than these fellas who dont get any recognition!
What about all our great Jazz talent for example?!
Grow up lads and continue to improve..
It’s not just metal though, it is things like Jazz or truly alternative rock that the media do not give exposure to. The media should focus on what is available and what music there is to listen to but they just focus on what people are buying already or just freak out to the latest Bob Dylan record for the umpteenth time. If they actually pushed out the boat a bit and people were made aware it may be surprising what people actually pick up on. Take the example of “The Sopranos”, nothing like that existed on TV at the time and regular viewers didn’t expect it, people were surprised and went to it like ducks to water and now we lap up Breaking Bad, Mad Men, The Wire which all follows that very complex drama format. Give the people something they’ve never heard about and you never know, people do like being surprised but if its not there for them in the first place it will never happen
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