Primal Fear, comprising of Ralph Scheepers – vocals, Mat Sinner – bass & vocals, Tom Naumann – guitar, Alex Beyrodt – guitar, Magnus Karlsson – guitar & keyboards and Fransesco Jovino – drums, have just released their 12th studio album “Apocalypse” via Frontiers Music Srl.

The album is available as cd, cd/dvd, box set (cd/dvd & T-Shirt) and as vinyl LP, (Red in US Independant stores, Blue via Frontiers Music EU website).

The dvd contents are

* “King Of Madness” video

* “The Ritual” video

* “The Making Of Apocalypse” documentary.

The deluxe cd has 3 bonus songs as well, which unfortunatley weren’t here for me to review

* “Fight Against Evil”

* “Into The Fire”

* “My War Is Over”

So, with just the general album to review, that’s 11 songs that take 50:10 running time.

The opening song and title track starts with some breathing and a beat fading in, some choral singing and a tolling bell, this is an epic opening. Drums beat a slow march while guitars play a harmonic melody and…a fast riff and drums, a drum roll and things are even faster and we’re into the second song “New Rise”, a fast paced song with buzzsaw guitars in the bridge and fast, yet melodic guitars in the chorus with choral vocals in the background. We’re treated to chanting vocals in the middle, before the solo. Some of the epic vocals and gothic background to the songs is remeniscent of Priest’s classic double album, Nostradamus.

Third song “The Ritual” starts with a drum roll and we have a chugging riff – this one is a mid- fast paced rocker and sounds a bit like a more modern thrash band; we have time changes and a melodic harmony in the middle before the solo. Military style drums, melodic guitar and a vocal “Oh oh oh” introduce the mid-fast paced “King Of Madness”, the fourth song. The song slows in the middle, with a breakdown – we’re back to the military drums – then things pick up for the melodic harmony. There’s a final chorus and we come back to the military drums and vocal “Oh oh oh”s of the song’s intro. A fast paced, driving guitar riff then a drum roll and the album’s fifth song “Blood, Sweat & Fear” another fast paced rocker is away. There’s a nice sing-along chorus here and Ralph Scheepers treats us to a Rob Halford-esque scream in the middle.

“Supernova”, the sixth song on the album starts with some piano, keyboard and strings, then drums and we have a slow paced song with an epic chorus. There’s a melodic guitar harmony before the solo. Things break down to piano and keyboards while Ralph Scheepers sings the chorus, then the rest of the band join in, things build up for a final chorus. Seventh Song “Hail To The Fear” is introduced by some widdly guitar and crashing drums, bass and guitars and then a chugging, driving riff and we’re going through a mid-paced rocker. There are background chants in the chorus and in the middle we’re back to the widdly guitar of the intro, before the solo, then a dual, harmonic guitar piece and then into the third verse. Ralph Scheepers does some high pitched singing of the song’s title at the end. “Hounds Of Justice” is a fast paced rocker with a nice, driving riff and the album’s eighth song. The song breaks down to Fransesco Jovino’s drums and Ralph Scheepers vocals for the first verse. The song slows for the chorus, which sounds like very modern, commercial rock, although this adds flavour, rather than taking over the song. A quick stop start and we’re back to the main riff for verse two.

Crashing drums and melodic guitar introduce the ninth song “The Beast”, which is a nice, mid-paced rocker. Guitar introduces us to “Eye Of The Storm”, the album’s tenth song. Crashing drums, backed with Mat Sinner’s bass and then we have a military style drum pattern, then mid-paced drums which Ralph Scheepers’ vocals  are softly sung over, with keyboards in the background. The band’s guitars and bass join in for the chorus. The song goes to a slow-mid pace for the middle, with crashing drums, keyboards, plus gentle picked guitar, they build up and we have a very epic middle. A guitar solo with keyboard support. We’re back to keyboard and gentle strummed guitar, guitar harmony and a second solo. This should make an epic centre-piece for the band’s live shows. Eleventh and final song, “Cannonball” starts with a mid-paced intro which becomes a fast paced rocker. An epic sing-along bridge leads us into the chorus and Ralph Scheepers treats us to some more Rob Halford-esque screams.

Overall, this is a very enjoyable album, a lot of styles merge together effortlessly, everything gels and nothing seems out of place. There’s plenty going on here to get a few spins out of this album, without it becoming boring. One of my albums of the year.

TRACKLIST

Apocalypse (intro)

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

http://www.primalfear.de/

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