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Thursday 26 July 2018

Primal Fear - 'Apocalypse' Album Review


Former Gamma Ray vocalist Ralf Scheepers and bassist/vocalist Mat Sinner, two of the most respected German metal musicians, founded Primal Fear in 1997 and 21 years later, show no signs of slowing down. With 11 studio albums released, Primal Fear have become one of the most beloved and respected heavy metal bands around the globe, a true metal institution. Their last two studio albums “Delivering The Black” and “Rulebreaker” saw them climbing the charts and receiving even more critical praise than before. Truly, especially in recent years, the band has continued to raise the bar in terms of quality and musicianship with their release, constantly pushing themselves to find new ways to best themselves. And with the release of their new album, “Apocalypse”, Primal Fear has once again raised the bar in heavy metal to towering heights!  

Another first for me. I’ve heard of Primal Fear of course, but never actually heard any of their offerings. After a daunting but mesmerizing intro, ‘New Rise’ meets us with a nice galloping beat. This is Helloween all over and could easily sneak into the 'Keeper of The Seven Keys' albums without anyone notice it’s a different band. It’s a great opener to be fair, setting us up nicely for ‘The Ritual’. Some nice guitar riffs here. Very Helloween in the guitar solos. This track has a great base riff and keeps you entertained the whole way through. Lovino giving us some great double bass pedal work.
‘King Of Madness’ slows the pace down a little and then picks up again towards the bridge. This sounds very similar to Ross The Boss with it’s melodic chorus. I’m loving the duel guitar solos in this. It’s a great tune to be fair, growing on me as he song reaches it’s latter stages.

‘Blood, Sweat & Fear’ cranks the speed up significantly with it heavy double bass intro almost sending my thoughts towards Judas Priest’s Ron Halford era.

As I’m hearing this band for the first time I have no past work to compare with but I’m liking what I hear here. ‘Supernova’s’ intro is beautifully played between the two guitarists. There’s a slower mood with this song. Nothing spectacular, but it rolls on.

To be fair its an album worth listening to and I can imagine these songs being good crowd pleasers live. By the time ‘Hail To The Fear’, ‘Hounds Of Injustice’, ‘The Beast’, ‘Eye Of The Storm’(an anthemic 8 minute classic) and ‘Cannonball’ (a thundering finale) entertain us I can’t help but feel quite satisfied from what I’ve heard. What I’ve noticed with this album is that every song has a great opening riff. I will definitely listen again as it is a very enjoyable album.


Score 7/10

Reviewed by Sty

Track Listing

  1. Apocalypse
  2. New Rise
  3. The Ritual
  4. King Of Madness
  5. Blood, Sweat, & Fear
  6. Supernova
  7. Hail To The Fear
  8. Hounds Of Justice
  9. The Beast
  10. Eye Of The Storm
  11. Cannonball

BAND MEMBERS: 
Ralf Scheepers – Lead Vocals
Tom Naumann – Guitars
Alex Beyrodt – Guitars
Magnus Karlsson – Guitars & Keyboards
Francesco Jovino – Drums
Mat Sinner – Bass & Vocals

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