Primal Fear - Rulebreaker

Published January 25 2016

*=Staff's pick	Angels Of Mercy The End Is Near Bullets & Tears* Rulebreaker In Metal We Trust* We Walk Without Fear* At War With The World The Devil In Me Constant Heart The Sky Is Burning Raving Mad

Genre	Heavy Metal	Ralf Scheepers	Vocals
Tracks	11	Alex Beyrodt	Guitar
Running time	53 Min.	Magnus Karlsson	Guitar
Label	Frontiers Music	Tom Naumann	Guitar
Release	January 22, 2016	Mat Sinner	Bass
Country	Germany	Francesco Jovino	Drums
Producer	Mat Sinner w/ Jacob Hansen	Magnus Karlsson	Keyboard
Similar artists	---

The songs on this new Primal Fear creation are in my opinion strong overall, even though as usual nothing on this record really is surprising to me. I don't believe that they've made any bigger effort to come out innovating or even put some hard work into sonically differentiate this release from what they're achieved before and without a doubt the band remains within the same style of music still. Generally it lacks growth and feels definitely just like a natural tiny step sideways from its predecessor Delivering The Black and you simply get kind of what was expected beforehand.

I wouldn't say that it is a carbon copy of past work however and some songs have a little bit different approach than what usually is presented. The band's somewhat power metal oriented heavy metal is almost continuously heavy and fast alternately and Ralf Scheepers still shows his great talent behind the microphone, although I sense that he has lost just a microscopic bit of his power and stamina, or is it just me who sets my expectations way too high? He's arguably one of the greatest singers in metal in my book anyway and I reckon that he still will be for years to come.

Primal Fear's type of heavy riffing is quite recognizable, even if original guitarist Tom Naumann has returned to the ranks after being away for quite a few years, but I think that they at least to some extent have tried to be creative with the lead guitar play by putting a few kind of different licks and solos to the music. The drum playing as a whole is mainly following the band's already since way back structured tempo, but also at this point there's a slight change of course, since long-time drummer Randy Black has left the building and made room for Francesco Jovino.

Rulebreaker is a record that I personally see as something to check out for already existing fans to the band, because I'm positive that if you earlier found greatness in Primal Fear you will find enjoyment in this release as well. If you on the other hand never have liked what they've done before, but for some reason anyway decides to listen to what the band has accomplished now, I'm dead certain that you won't start to dig what they do at this point either. This album doesn't reach all the way to the absolute top position in the band's fantastic catalogue, but will still be a great piece of music for the fans and in order to make the fans happy or at least very satisfied, Primal Fear definitely knows what to do.

Performance	Originality	Production	Vocals	Songwriting
7	3	8	9	8

Summary
8 chalices of 10 - Tobbe