The roots of the band trace back to 1987 when Pól and Ciarán began playing together with Pól's brother, Derek. Initially known as Forsaken for a brief period, the band played a rough, hybrid mix of early, primitive thrash and death metal.
In 1991, vocalist Nemtheanga joined the band after seeing an advertisement for a singer at The Sound Cellar, a specialist metal store in Dublin. According to Primordial lore, the ad was posted and responded to within just two hours.
With Nemtheanga on board, the band began to pursue a darker direction, drawing influence from Bathory, Celtic Frost, and the emerging Greek and Norwegian black metal scenes. Primordial became the first black metal-styled band to emerge from Ireland with the release of their Dark Romanticism demo in the early summer of 1993.