Tag: primal fear (Page 1 of 2)

Here is the latest offering from Primal Fear’s fourteen studio albums, so far. I like the band a lot. I’m a big fan of old school style metal where harmony and groove still means something. I can’t get to grips with most of the black and death metal bands as there are no dynamics in the music. Primal Fear never disappoints and this album is no exception, it basically carries on from their previous album.

To make the crunch even better on this one, there were three guitar players deployed for the recording. Alex Beyrodt is a monster player on his own but adding Magnus Karlsson along with Tom Naumann is riff city. Just crank and enjoy the crunch.

Bring That Noise and Deep In The Night The World Is On Fire are both ripping mid tempo groovers with max fat riffage to get the head bangin’. Cancel Culture takes it up a few notches with double kicks a plenty at a pace that kills. Steelmelter is my favourite track. This is a classic PF song. It has a huge riff and plenty of groove with a hook and chorus that drags you in. Killer ending to the album as well with Fearless. A great uplifting melody mixed with chugga’s all the way.

Well, until the next time my friends.

9/10 from The Grooveman.

For those of you who do not know, Ralph Scheepers auditioned for Judas Priest after Halford departed. Then, he formed a cover band called Just Priest and toured around Germany. Matt Sinner and guitarist Tom Neumann actually got up and guested at one of their shows. After that, a conversation a seed was planted and Primal Fear was born. Their brief was to just play good old Heavy Metal and this is the their first album.

Is it close to the Priest sound? Oh absolutely, but it’s one hell of an album. There is not a bad moment on the whole record. It is totally metal from beginning to end, but with the eye on the melody. That’s what metal once was, you could always sing along to the songs. Apart from the little intro piece, you can pick any track here and I would be happy to call it my favourite.

Great record and if you’re an old school metal fan it will definitely put a smile on your face. Killer!

10/10 from The Grooveman.

This is album number twelve for the German heavy metal powerhouse, and was released in 2018. It is somewhat ironic that Primal Fear only came into being after Ralf Scheepers did not get the gig to replace Rob Halford in Judas Priest, as their output has been more Priest than the original. There should be no lack in ideas for riffs as Alex Beyrodt and Magnus Karlsson are two of the best players out there.

After the title track, New Rise rips your face off immediately as the pace is barely autobahn legal. Monster tune! The Ritual sees the groove slow somewhat and Scheepers is singing in a lower register, but the riff and groove are killer. Love the build up to King Of Madness, it really creates that anticipation and it’s the most melodic track so far. Maximum chugga riffage and double kicks all the way for Blood Sweat & Fear. That main riff is a sped up Priest one, see if you can make it out. This is a killer tune and my favourite. We close out Side 1 with Supernova, a huge sounding metallic ballad and Ralph’s voice is sounding awesome.

Hail To The Fear kicks Side 2 into gear and the mid-paced chugga groove is so infectious. The chugga’s keep on comin’ as Hounds Of Justice keeps your head bobbin. The Beast follows and the intro is pure Iron Maiden with the duel melodic guitars, and that chorus. Eye Of The Storm is next and the military sounding intro is so dramatic. The middle section complete with strings, mixes the metal with the classical so well. It’s last track time with Cannonball, and yes we are going out the way we came in: double kicks pounding and maximum chug. Yes, they employ every metal cliche in the patented metal handbook, but who cares when they produce albums of such high quality?

What’s the problem with Frontiers records’ quality control? This is another record that’s been exchanged three times because of the bad pressing. The album is great and very deserving of…

9/10 from The Grooveman.

I guess they will forever be compared to Judas Priest. I do get that, especially with Ralf’s incredible screams and vocal style, but there is so much more to their sound. They consistently put out great records, and in mainland Europe and Scandinavia they are huge and put on killer shows.

This a very nice looking reissue of the 2007 album, and the onslaught starts with Sign Of Fear – Ralf’s voice is just insane. No one can sing like that. The song has a killer riff and grooves along at a great pace. Face The Emptiness has a lot more of a euro metal vibe to it (especially the hook and melody), and the drums are epic. Everytime It Rains is an epic romp with a vocal duet with Simone Simmons. The title track is next and starts with a fat huge riff with the double kicks pounding, and you can see all of the hands in the air for this one. Fighting The Darkness opens up with a solo operatic vocal from Ralf and is very Eurovision – you even get this as a bonus track complete with orchestra. The Darkness follows and is an instrumental that starts off very dramatic before lots of guitars kick in. Blood On Your Hands is up next and is my favourite track. It has a huge monster riff with a great groove and beat, and Ralf is giving it the beans.

This whole album feels very epic and conceptual, and that continues with The Curse Of Sharon, but the band don’t lose sight of the melody and the groove which makes each song as catchy as Covid. Too Much Time starts with an epic harmonized vocal before the pedal is put too firmly to the metal. Psycho starts with an evil choppy riff, and this just makes you want to nod that head and stamp your feet. The main album proper closes with The Man (That I Don’t Know) and this is the one track that screams Judas Priest. Great riff and hook.

I love this band and the whole production on this record is killer. If you like your metal with huge riffs and great vocals, then do your speakers a favour.

9.5/10 from Th Grooveman.