Author: Urban Bolta
Photos: Aleš Podbrežnik
Venue: Boogaloo / Zagreb / Croatia
Concert date: 05.04.2012
Attendance: 350
Ticket price: 19,00€ / 21,00€
New album, new tour – that’s how it goes in the music world! Primal Fear and Brainstorm, two bands that emerged in the second half of the nineties, when power metal was going through a real renaissance, have hit the road together again. Then came a tough decade, when more aggressive bands took center stage and, in their quest for maximum loudness, shoved melody onto the sidelines. But the most loyal knights of power metal didn’t give in – they faithfully kept putting out new albums, raising new generations of metalheads and waiting for better times. And they survived. Both Primal Fear and Brainstorm have recently released new studio albums that credibly continue the path each band has laid out, and loudly announce that they remain among the main players of the German – and, more broadly, European – power metal scene.
The last joint tour of these two kindred bands, three years ago, gave our neck of the woods a wide berth, so the news that Primal Fear and Brainstorm were coming to the Croatian capital, just a stone’s throw away, got a warm welcome. The joy of Slovenian heavy metal fans got even more genuine when Lene Kosti were confirmed as the support act. The decision was easy – Zagreb must fall!
Despite the announcements of an early start, the evening was opened »only« around seven by German heavy metallers Palace. They’ve been around for a solid two decades and have six studio albums behind them, the latest released last September. Palace firmly follow the school of Teutonic heavy metal and weave harmonies in thirds into their tightly built songs. The twin-guitar play, over keyboards from the backing track, builds an atmosphere of epicness, even claustrophobia, so Boogaloo got its fair share of morbid mood. Some of the riffs, with their simple monumentality, recalled the golden days of the Accept school, while frontman Harald Piller steered them closer to power metal waters with gritty vocals in the style of Chris Boltendahl (Grave Digger). A thoroughly decent start to the evening, no doubt about it!
On as special guests, second on the bill, were Lene kosti – for the second time with their new guitarist Edi Sabljakovič (Forgotten Eden) in the lineup, after the show with Blaze Bayley three weeks ago. Dr. Evil and company kicked off with the title track of the new album »Penetrator« (review here) and took us on an express-train ride with no hand brake! The sound in the middle of the club wasn’t the best and only improved somewhat during The Cage, where frontman Milan showed off his powerful vocal arsenal. His stage presence did the rest! While the instrumental crew jealously guarded their spots on the stage, Dr. Evil successfully tamed the whole stage to his advantage and, riding his charismatic personality, egged on the front rows to join in. Practically everyone in the venue had gathered, watched the band and fueled it with loud cheers of support – something most opening acts at shows like this can only dream of. The express rhythm rolled on with Russian Girl and Iron Dragon, the only two tracks from the debut »Do or Die« that made it into the set. The half-hour hangout ended with the punchy single Refuse to Die, closing a show in which Lene kosti presented themselves in a new guise. With Giovanni Kavaš gone, the band lost its boogie heavy metal stamp and moved closer to the idiom of the German power metal school. Whether you like that or not, judge for yourselves.
The clock kept ticking and it was time for Brainstorm, a German power metal quintet made up, since the very beginning, of the guitar duo Torsten Ihlenfeld and Milan Lončarić. The real renaissance came for Brainstorm with the turn of the millennium, when vocalist Andy B. Frank joined the ranks. Rockline last caught the »brainstorm« at last year’s Bang Your Head!!! festival (report here), but a lot of water has flowed under the bridge since then, bringing the Brainstorm camp a brand-new record, titled »On The Spur Of The Moment« (review here). For the current tour, the Germans put as many as four of its songs in the set list, which speaks to the band’s firm belief in the album’s quality. And they’re right! In The Blink Of An Eye and Temple Of Stone slotted right in with the older material in the opening stretch of the show, warming Boogaloo up to a proper working temperature. The atmosphere was surprisingly warm despite the club being half empty, and a few dozen fans who made the trip from Slovenia added their piece to the mosaic – from the front row all the way back to the mixing desk, power-metal-starved fans were eating out of Andy Frank’s hand, a frontman with a capital F! Frank sweats out every last drop at every show and leaves his heart on the stage with visible dedication, which is why Brainstorm count as a real live treat! Once again he made excellent use of his vocal quality and range. In the choruses he typically pushed his voice from the mid to the higher registers, effectively delivering songs like Shiver and Shadowland. The guitarist on the right side of the stage got his due too – Milan Lončarić has Croatian roots, so his addresses to the crowd in the local language poured even more oil on the fire of an already great atmosphere. The relentless march through melodically polished riffs ended with Highs Without Lows (»Soul Temptation«, 2003). With a flawless performance, Brainstorm threw down the gauntlet to the headliners, but sadly their current profile in power metal circles is probably also their ceiling – otherwise they’d have won themselves a more important place in the sun long ago.
The clock hands kept diligently turning as the crew prepared the stage for the tour’s main act – the German heavy metal machine Primal Fear, whom many consider the continental copy of Judas Priest (we’re talking about the period from »Painkiller« onward, of course). And how could they not? After Halford’s departure, frontman Ralf Scheepers was practically at the Priest’s front door, but in the end it was Tim »Ripper« Owens who got the chance of a lifetime. Scheepers found his alternative by starting a new band – together with Mat Sinner he founded Primal Fear, where the two still form the central creative and working core today.
To a taped intro, the musicians spread out across the stage and opened the show with Strike, then kept testing how well the crowd knew the brand-new material with the next song, Give ‘Em Hell. The guitar duo was different this time – Swede Magnus Karlsson skipped the current tour because of family commitments, and Greek guitarist Constantine stepped into his shoes, joining his older colleague Alexander Beyrodt. The youngster handled the new role well; after a few shows at the start of the tour he’d already shaken off his initial nerves, so he had no trouble getting the blood pumping for most of those present! Nuclear Fire and Seven Seals, riding on very good sound where the instruments were fairly evenly balanced, squeezed the maximum out of their catchy choruses and pulled the front rows into singing along. But watch out, Primal Fear also leaned on taped keyboards, which cost them a bit of adrenaline. Never mind, though! The intensity of the power metal machine didn’t let up with the next crusher, Black Sun, either. The way out of the song brought a drum solo from Randy Black, and with it a breather for the rest of the band.
The concert rolled into its second half, but Scheepers, the main man on stage, wasn’t letting up! The guy still hits extreme heights and handles jumps from the mid to the higher registers with fearsome precision and no loss of vocal power, while still adapting well to songs of very different moods – from the ballad Where Angels Die all the way to the cranked-to-the-limit Fightning The Darkness. Primal Fear closed the main set, as expected, with the epic charger Metal Is Forever and left the stage with smiling faces. A loud demand for a comeback forced the Primal Fear arsenal back out once more, and they served up Bad Guys Wear Black and Chainbreaker. During the latter, Milan »Dr. Evil« Krušič had his big moment, joining his personal friend Mat Sinner and company on stage and singing the chorus of this song from the Primal Fear debut together with Scheepers.
Four bands, four good sets, and new proof that metal gourmets haven’t forgotten the legacy of melodic heavy metal. Although I can hardly describe the turnout in superlatives, the playful crowd also contributed its piece of the puzzle to the overall picture of a triumphant evening. I’m especially happy for our own Lene kosti, who, despite having the worst sound of all the bands on the bill, managed to make the most of a good day’s form and win over the Croatian heavy metal maniacs.
Setlist
PRIMAL FEAR:
1. Unbreakable pt. 1
2. Strike
3. Give ‘Em Hell
4. Nuclear Fire
5. Unbreakable pt. 2
6. Seven Seals
7. Black Sun
8. Drum solo
9. Where Angels Die
10. Demons / Angel In Black
11. Metal Nation
12. Fighting The Darkness
13. Final Embrace
14. Metal Is Forever
—encore—
15. Bad Guys Wear Black
16. Chainbreaker
BRAINSTORM:
1. Intro
2. Worlds Are Comin’ Through
3. In The Blink Of An Eye
4. Redemption In Your Eyes
5. Shiva’s Eyes
6. Temple Of Stone
7. Fire Walk With Me
8. Shiver
9. Shadowland
10. Bellow The Line
11. In These Walls
12. All Those Words
13. Highs Without Lows
LENE KOSTI:
1. Penetrator
2. Heavy Artillery
3. The Cage
4. Russian Girl
5. Iron Dragon / Die You Bastard
6. Refuse To Die
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