Introducing: Pridian

This may surprise you but Tartu band Pridian are the fourth we’ve featured from Estonia, a small country to the south of Finland, north of Latvia and west of Russia with 1.3 million people (that’s around seven times less than London!). And this particular group of musicians is among the finest Estonia has to offer, considering the previous iteration of the band was nominated for metal album of the year at the 2022 Estonian Music Awards!

The quartet of Laur Lindmäe (vocals) – who was in one of those previous Estonian bands Pharmer – Jörg-Erik Hanikat and Martin Randalu (guitars) and Robert Leht (drums) was founded in 2018 under the name ÆØNS with their previous vocalist Iisak Pilli. After the award nomination, they went through a rebrand to create a new identity that better accompanied their new vision.

The quartet have fused a powerful and intoxicating metal sound that they describe as “cinematic, futuristic and bold.” And Laur adds: “Pridian pays homage to classic anthemic riffs, but gives them an unexpected edge with a modern electronic touch and powerful soundscape.”

Our first taste of the new sound of Pridian is their debut single Soft Gold, which starts with building electronic sounds that are joined by industrial drums. A huge cry ushers in delicious chunky guitars under a searing synth sound. That drops into a dreamy verse of mellow vocals with more intense vocals joining in.

It builds into a huge, atmospheric chorus with the chunky guitar chords and synths supporting powerful vocals that end with the superb line “I’m playing Russian roulette with a semiautomatic.” The chorus drops into a mellow section with the “semiautomatic” echoing away, before laid-back vocals that build up to heavier guitars and vocals and another huge chorus.

The second chorus ends on a huge growl and booming guitars with another repeat of the “semiautomatic” line ushering in even heavier guitars, before the track closes out with the mellow instrumentals. We absolutely love the sound of this!

On the track, Laur tells us: “So far we have received overwhelmingly positive feedback to our new sound and direction. We put songwriting in the forefront with Soft Gold compared to our debut album, which was mostly Jörg just writing down whatever came to mind and rolling with the ideas.

“There is definitely a more refined approach to creating our songs going forward, as we now have input from all the members collectively. The new material is not focused on just creating technical riffs, but more comprehensive songs.” Give the new track a listen in the video here:

The Pridian sound is influenced by a range of sounds and genres. Jörg tells us his most-listened-to artists are Silent Planet, Lorn and Nine Inch Nails, while Robert gives us the eclectic mix of Foo Fighters, The 1975, Dance Gavin Dance and Skrillex.

And on what inspires them to write music, Jörg says: “When coming up with ambiance and post-production for songs, I like to draw inspiration from movie composers and film soundtracks in general. Some of my favorite composers include Clint Mansell, Hans Zimmer, and Trent Reznor. I am also a huge fan of video game soundtracks, particularly in love with the music of the Dark Souls series. But generally on the metal and electronic music side, I mostly listen to stuff that has a certain kind of darkness and complexity to it. Lorn is a big part of that influence from the electronic music world.”

While Laur says: “My lyrical themes usually explore human nature and the struggles within oneself. Regarding my vocal style, I would have to say that I am mostly influenced by Tim Williams (Bloodsimple), Wayne Static (Static-X) and Joe Duplantier (Gojira) – I like to do a lot of noted screams and use my raspy voice, it comes really naturally for me. I also like a lot of industrial music, and thanks to that I’ve grown to really love the distorted analog synth sounds. I love riffing around with different synthesizers and bringing these sounds to our music wherever it seems fit.”

And Martin adds: “Martin: “I’ve always had the drive to create music and express myself. Sometimes it’s hard to put thoughts and feelings into words, so I discovered pretty early on that I’m able to express myself through the soundscapes I create. Picking up a guitar and converting emotions into music just seems inherently natural to me. Main topics vary quite a bit. Thanks to the current state of the world, there isn’t really a shortage of inspiration or themes to write about.”

We also asked the guys for their insight into the Estonian metal scene, and Laur told us: “The Estonian heavy music scene is improving and evolving steadily. While our numbers are few, our souls are mighty. Thanks to Tallinn Music Week, the number of local artists who are getting more recognition abroad is getting larger every year. There aren’t many clubs or venues where you can go to see the up-and-coming artists, but the ones we have are all popular and unique places to visit and play in. The people are supportive and open-minded. We think the best years for local heavy music are still ahead of us.”

We’re excited by what we’ve heard from Pridian and there’s plenty more to come with the band currently working on several new songs that should be released in the next few months. One of those is already back from mastering and they’ve been working on video production. They should have a small EP out by the end of the year to cap off the Pridian rebrand.

You can follow Pridian on Facebook and Instagram, and check out their music on Spotify, Bandcamp, Apple Music and YouTube.