Author: Aleš Podbrežnik
Artist: Primal Fear
Label: Nuclear Blast
Release: 2005
Length: 59:38
Rating: 3.5/5
Well, this time around the new album is just a total standing-still! Not to mention far, far below the level of the brilliant “Devil’s Ground” (2004). Primal Fear simply don’t show anything new. They stick doggedly to their trademarks, but sound damn repetitive while doing it, constantly dragging out the same old lines, lines from past records. Through all of it, there’s not a single point on the album that’s anything shattering, or a step forward for the band.
Of course, “Seven Seals” once again brings together nothing but top-notch musicians! In Primal Fear, Ralf Scheppers is definitely the best German heavy metal vocalist around! And we know what kind of album Primal Fear can make when they take their time and put in the effort. Don’t get me wrong, the album is devastatingly alive. It’s like Primal Fear played a gig in the studio and recorded it straight to tape with almost no cosmetic polishing. The production is fantastic!
The album is desperately short on originality. It was obviously patched together too quickly, and the band members just didn’t manage to get on the same wavelength during the recording and squeeze out their absolute maximum together. R. Black got off the worst here, with his mind-numbingly monotonous drumming, which was still hugely fascinating on “Devil’s Ground” and actually contributed a great deal to the shine of “Devil’s Ground”. I miss the rolls, proper drum rolls on the outros, the intros, the transitions between motifs! Where are they? Klaus, come back!
On top of that, there’s the inclusion of Question Of Honour, an original Sinner song, and honestly a properly artful tune, originally released on the even more artful Sinner record “Nature Of Evil” (1998), which only confirms the band’s lack of ideas and creativity. The hugely ironic thing is that Question Of Honour is actually the best track on the record. The playing on it is an almost identical copy of the original, and the only real difference between the new and old version is the lead vocal, which is now Scheppers’. Two more songs save the album’s honor! The mid-tempo Diabolus, with outstanding work from both guitars, a great moody instrumental middle section and some atmospheric drama near the end! Carniwar can boast the same qualities, and it’s especially marked by the phenomenal singing of Ralf Scheppers. As always, his supersonic “screams” leave the listener breathless and freeze the blood in their veins. Now that’s real Fear!
Of course, anyone who hasn’t heard anything by Primal Fear before will have their hair standing on end the moment they pop “Seven Seals” into the CD “player”, but for those in the know, the album just won’t be convincing. Fans can be happy with it. It’s a Primal Fear album, after all. But this time with quite a few reservations!
Line-up
Ralf Scheppers – vocals, backing vocals
Tom Naumann – guitar
Stefan Leibing – guitar
Mat Sinner – bass guitar, backing vocals
Randy Black – drums, percussion
Production
Mat Sinner
Track list
1. Demons And Angels
2. Rollercoaster
3. Seven Seals
4. Evil Spell
5. The Immortal Ones
6. Diabolus
7. All For One
8. Carniwar
9. Question Of Honour
10. In Memory
