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Primal Fear releases an album full of anthemic metal in 'Unbreakable'
by Tom Walsh
Posted on January 12, 2012
Primal Fear: Unbreakable
Expected Release January 24, 2012
Tracklist:
1. Unbreakable (part1)
Unbreakable (part1)2. Strike
Strike3. Give Em Hell
Give Em Hell4. Bad Guys Wear Black
Bad Guys Wear Black5. And There Was Silence
And There Was Silence6. Metal Nation
Metal Nation7. Where Angels Die
Where Angels Die8. Unbreakable (part 2)
Unbreakable (part 2)9. Marching Again
Marching Again10.Born Again
Born Again11.Blaze of Glory
Blaze of Glory12.Conviction
Conviction Heavy metal has its roots firmly planted in the 70’s with bands like Black Sabbath, Deep Purple and Led Zeppelin, but since then there has been a lot of changes to this very special genre of music. Metal is still alive and well today, although it is quite a bit different than I think the forefathers of metal ever would have imagined. Metal has gone from almost classical style guitars and soaring vocals to a more aggressive style guitar playing and what is affectionately called ‘Cookie Monster’ vocals. But somewhere between these two styles of metal lies what a lot of people consider true metal. Bands like Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Accept and Helloween brought metal to maturity and created a nation of metal heads with their horns held high.
Founded in Germany, late 1997 Primal Fear is one of those bands that have continued to play the ‘true’ style of metal when the metal landscape around them was changing drastically.
After eight unbelievable studio releases and a few small lineup changes Primal Fear has released their ninth, and possibly best, studio album ‘Unbreakable’.
Bassist and producer Mat Sinner says, “After touring for two years without breaks, the guys realized the fan favorites very well and we wrote an untamed, powerful and crushing album together”, while singer Ralf Scheepers adds, “The plan was to record an album for the fans with rough metal riffs, screaming vocals and good melodies ...... and finally it became a monster – a tough 'bang-your-head' metal album called “Unbreakable“.
Unbreakable starts out with an innocent enough number called ‘Unbreakable Part 1’ that is orchestral and epic sounding…..and doesn’t do nearly enough to prepare you for the upcoming metal assault. The rest of the album is blazing, staccato guitar, hammering bass, dynamic vocals and thunderous drums. Ralf Scheepers voice couldn’t be in better shape than it is on this album. He has the classic power metal voice, and he comes off sounding like all the classic metal vocalists rolled into one. From the lows to the highs this man belts out every song like there’s no tomorrow. Just listen to his sustain at the end of ‘And There Was Silence’ and see if you don’t agree. The slamming rhythm section of Randy Black on drums and Mat Sinner on bass, plus the duel guitars of Alex Bayrodt and Magnus Karlsson makes And There Was Silence one of my favorite songs on the album.
From the opening of ‘Strike’ all the way through to ‘Conviction’ this album is full on, in your face power metal, with a couple of exceptions. Born Again slows things down a little and is the closest Primal Fear comes to a ballad on this album. Where Angels Die is an eight minute epic that manages to tread water in both the power metal and progressive metal realms. This tune has kind of a Metal Church meets Helloween feel and offers up some terrific, melodic guitar riffs. The first single ‘Bad Guys Wear Black’ is a rhythm based song that’s full of chunk and attitude and is basically a salute to metal heads worldwide.
The rest of the album is straight up power metal that is chock full of a driving low end with serious drum fills and pounding bass balanced out by crazy good guitar work. The whole album is rounded out nicely with Ralf Scheepers hellacious voice that recalls the metal gods of the eighties. Germany has given the world some great metal in the past and it looks like they’re continuing to do so.
So crank it up and bang your head! It doesn’t matter what age you are. If you’re a metal fan you’ll love this album.
Primal Fear is:
Ralf Scheepers – Vocals
Alex Beyrodt – Guitars
Magnus Karlsson – Guitar, Keyboards
Randy Black – Drums
Mat Sinner – Bass & Vocals
For more information please visit:
Click ablum cover to check out Primal Fear: Unbreakable on iTunes when its released on January 24, 2012.
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