This January metal powerhouse Primal Fear is set to release their tenth studio album “Delivering The Black” on Frontiers. Primal Fear is among the bands that I will automatically purchase when new stuff comes out and even with a digital review copy from the label I will still be buying this one too.
Produced once again by Matt Sinner with Achim Kohler running the faders and Jacob Hansen doing the mix work this release has a great studio pedigree behind it. The same lineup from last years “Unbreakable” release is back on board for this one and with the exception of the second guitar spot it’s the same lineup that played on the superlative “16.6 (Before The Devil Knows You’re Dead)”.
The disc consists of 10 tracks on the regular release or 13 on the deluxe edition. The deluxe edition also comes with a DVD with some music vids and the all important “making of” video.
Primal Fear is at their best when they put the essence of Judas Priest into the power metal format. The first track “King For A Day” delivers the goods on this. They chose wisely when the put this one upfront. This track could easily slide right onto Painkiller. Magnus Karlsson has got a crunchy tone on this that will make any Priest fan happy and Randy Black’s insistent drumming hooks you right in. How much better can it get? Well as soon as Ralf Scheepers lets loose with the vocal you know this is gonna be a great Primal Fear disc and with track 1 clocking in at under four minutes it leaves you wanting more. And more you get…
Rebel Faction is up next. It starts with bait of deception as you get some cinematic orchestral stuff and then all hell brakes loose. This one is relentless. Even during the bridge where everything seems to slow down the drums never let up. The other bit of coolness on this one is that each part goes seamlessly into each other. There’s none of the normal blocking and changes between riffs it just flows. Magnus also turns in a short but great solo on here too.
Track 3 is “When Death Comes Knocking“. It starts with a quasi acoustic intro with this really well done delay/echo on there. It reminds me of something that would have been an intro on “Master of Puppets” that transitions to something that sounds very much like “Back For The Attack” era Dokken. The versres on this are classic Primal, very stripped down with a laid back drum groove and Ralf’s vocal backed only by Matt Sinner’s bass line. At around 3:50 there’s this very middle eastern sounding acoustic part which builds into a very cinematic part which then transitions to a really nice duel guitar harmony section. At the tail end of that Magnus just rips. It’s a excellent song but at 7 minutes I thought it was bit early to be injecting this one into the party. I would have really liked to have heard at least one more short powerful one before an epic.
If the guys in Primal were trying to capture the classic vibe of Accept they succeeded on “Alive And On Fire“. A very simple drum and bass groove with some great riffing laid on top. If someone played this blindly for you I almost think you would guess it was Accept with Mark Storace from Krokus doing a vocal guest spot. This would have sounded great in the three spot and would have ramped the energy down just a notch for the seven minute epic. Any way you look at though this is some classic style metal being played by some modern metal masters.
Up next is the title track and again they have not disappointed. Straight ahead flawless metal. I also really like the vocals on this. Both the melody line that Ralf applies and also the gang vocals that back him up. The lyrics also deserve a listen as they continue on with a long standing Primal theme. This also has one of my favorite guitar breaks, a perfectly executed roller coaster of metal guitar.
So five tracks in and this is shaping up to be an insanely good release. “Road To Asylum” continues this promise. This one is classic German power metal in every sense. If you listen to enough of it, you know it when you hear it. This one will be killer live.
I’m torn on track 7 “One Night in December“. First it’s over nine minutes long. It’s also very keyboardy. I know it’s not a real word but I’m keeping there anyways. Oddly even at over nine minutes it actually seems to be shorter when you listen to it. I knew it was long but I was actually surprised when I found out just how long it was. My only other issue with this one is that I thought that maybe it needed some more backing vocals at least later in the track. I do like the track though it just doesn’t shine as bright as some of those four minute monsters elsewhere on the disc.
Track 8 “Never Pray For Justice” kicks off with some type of sound. I still can’t decide what it is chainsaw, mini-bike, food processor? I’ve listened to the lyrics and I still don’t have any idea how to tie that sound back to the song. If I get to talk to Matt about the album I’ll be asking him about that. Beyond that the song is great. Another two thumbs up song from these guys. Two more like this and this album will be a total success.
Alas it’s not to be. Remember when Klaus Meine decided that it was better for the Scorpions for him to write those acoustic ballads instead of those great Herman Rarebell songs? Remember how betrayed we felt as metalheads? That’s how I felt listening to “Born With A Broken Heart“. Even having Liv Kristine doing a guest spot here was going to sway me on this one. There is slower stuff that I like, honest. I know come off as only liking the fast stuff but there’s plenty of slower stuff that makes the grade. “Slipping Away” from Dokken is a great slow tune. On this one it’s not the tempo it’s just the vibe I get from it. It’s too much of a reminder of the Scorpion’s dark times. Moving on…
The closer is “Inseminoid“. First off I freaking love that title. I don’t know why but it sounds very metal. Remember the machine on the cover of Hurricane’s “Slave To The Thrill” I think that should have been called the Inseminoid. Anyways, the last track once again redeems the band. Another example of well crafted power metal. This one has everything you listen to Primal Fear for. A killer galloping drum part, crunchy guitars and the ever present voice of Ralf Scheepers. A cool note on this one is the way that the vocal melody follows the chord stabs on the guitars. This one is so good I’m almost willing to forgive them for the previous track.
So all in all “Delivering The Black” has once again delivered on the legacy that is Primal Fear. Seven killer metal tracks that clock in at five minutes or less. Two longer tunes that still stand strong and fit with the rest of the tracks and one that just didn’t work for me. When I had talked with matt Sinner over the summer he had said the new Primal was going to amazing and he was more right than he knew. I’ll be putting down my metal dollars and getting the deluxe edition. I hope that you will too.
