www.needleinthegroove.co.uk: Primal Fear - 'Apocalypse' Album Review

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

Apocalypse
New Rise
The Ritual
King Of Madness
Blood, Sweat, & Fear
Supernova
Hail To The Fear
Hounds Of Justice
The Beast
Eye Of The Storm
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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ABOUT ME

I was brought up on my dad's record collection of rock 'n' roll greats. He was a Teddy Boy and had all the gear (and hair) - drain pipe trousers, jacket, crepe shoes. We listened to Elvis, Bill Hailey, Eddie Cochran, Johnny Kidd & The Pirates, Fats Domino, Tommy Steel, and the big names from the sixties such as Dave Clark Five, Wayne Fontana, Dave Dee (etc.,). This music was the kind that you would listen to to rebel against and annoy your parents; it was rough, wild, and the Ted's had a reputation.

So, fast forward to the end of the 70's. I was about 12 when it was the thing to choose your musical stance. It had to be a good choice as there was no going back. You had to be a mod, or a rocker back around 1980. I had a mate (still do, just the one mind) and he was an influence with regards to my musical tastes (and we still go gigging together to this day), and what with my dad's influence I chose the rocker route. I've never looked back. We (me and dad) both started a musical journey where our parents hated what we listened to! In fact, being a teenager in the mid 50s, it wasn't any different to being a teenager in the late 70's/early 80's with regards to rebellion. Although in my era, you couldnt get rickets.

I was fed strictly on a cassette diet of Deep Purple, Thin Lizzy, Whitesnake, Rush and Rainbow. From there it expanded into melodic rock and hair metal - Journey, Foreigner, Stryper, Ratt, Motley Crue, and Dokken. And Prog!

I absorbed all I could. I was a human sponge. The internet was eons away, so I got my fix via a wonderful weekly paper called 'Sounds.' It covered a lot of genres, but they specialised in Rock! I read it every week without fail for about three years. I loved the way their reporters wrote articles. It was like they were talking directly to me. It's how I try to do the same today. When it stopped, I moved with the crowd and subscribed to 'Kerrang!' A lot of the 'Sounds' crew moved across, and it felt like home. I wanted to know more about what was happening over in the U.S. So I subscribed to 'Hit Parader' - it was shite really, the articles weren't great, but the pictures were good. Plus I could follow the Dokken feud between Don and George. Thirty odd years later, they still hate each other! Today, its a diet of 'Classic Rock' Mag, sometimes 'Prog Mag', 'Fireworks' and 'Planet Rock' mag.

My enjoyment of this music has never waned. I see the same people time and again and its a great community. I try to get to as many gigs as I can still as its much better than sitting on your arse reviewing. I hope you enjoy the blog!

Paul Chesworth