Primal Fear - Seven Seals

*=Staff's pick	Demons And Angels* Rollercoaster Seven Seals* Evil Spell The Immortal Ones* Diabolus All For One Carniwar* Question Of Honour* In Memory

Genre	Heavy Metal	Ralf Scheepers	Vocals
Tracks	10	Tom Naumann	Guitar
Runningtime	54 Min.	Stefan Leibing	Guitar
Label	Nuclear Blast	Mat Sinner	Bass
Release	24 Oct. 2005	Randy Black	Drums
Country	England	-	Keyboards
Similar artists	Sinner, Rage

Under the sign of the eagle the German Metal Commando unit Primal Fear invades the true metal realms again with their sixth studio recording. This time the ten-parted mission is named Seven Seals and must be considered to be the album where everything falls into place. What's been keeping Primal Fear from attaining the ultimate grade so far has been the lack of versatility and their persistent approach of delivering quite similar true metal songs throughout every album. The innovative factor has thus not been at the highest and that's mostly what's bothered me the most about this band, no matter how great they still are. Seven Seals however is the album where this trend has seriously been looked into and all of a sudden Primal Fear serves us an album full of diversity and a song-writing that outdistances every single previous album.

The band has squeezed the last little drop out of every single number and has never felt as complete as this. Keyboards have been used more excessively, the material features orchestral arrangements and string instruments to a much higher degree and on top of everything Ralf Scheepes delivers the vocal performance of his life. All these elements have been incorporated in the already well known Primal Fear sonical signature. The backbone and true essence of the band with Naumann and Leibing delivering their guitar mastery and unmistakable massive and shredding riffing is however still intact because why fix something that ain't broke, but taken together all these factors of enhancement come together and give Primal Fear their up to now absolute greatest moment. Every single track has just been given a uniqueness to them I never thought this band capable of delivering.

The opening metal missile Demons and Angels is not the typical "Metal is Foreverrrr" Primal Fear hymn of heaviness but instead a much more mature cut with a formidable ultra-catchy chorus and a string-orchestrated middle section. Still fast and heavy enough to keep the Primal Fear purists happy but also slightly darker than before and that also goes for the entire album. Rollercoaster is more of the traditional straight-in-your-face Primal Fear song of metal mayhem character while the title track shows the reverse side of the spectra with many things in common with the mid-tempo power ballad type The Healer from the previous Devil's Ground (which I admit I overrated with at least one chalice).

Much orchestration has found itself into this song and that pattern repeats itself in the real epic Diabolus that pretty much is cast in the same mould despite being longer and containing the most orchestrated arrangements on the album. More headbangin' frenzy is brought about by numbers like All For One, The Immortal Ones, Evil Spell and Carniwar. These songs are all strong reminders of what Primal Fear have always sounded like but with the extra keyboard touches and many details carefully and thoroughly added, it still gives so much diversity both individuality that it feels like something new and fresh.

The incorporation of Sinner's Question of Honour from the Nature of Evil album and therefore a sort of a cover of themselves is just another real masterstroke. Already a formidable song and perhaps one of Mat's best songs ever has been made to perfection with Ralf in his highest prime and some modified orchestrations in the middle part. The closing In Memory is a very beautiful ballad full of ambience and once again Scheepes shows that he certainly can handle much much more than just high-pitched Halford screaming.

I therefore stand totally defenceless from the Metal Commando attack this time. Everything is just top notch and so utterly professional there's nothing to do but totally surrender. Every member has simply outdone himself completely and must have been working double overtime in the recording sessions. Everything, and then I mean everything, has improved. The choruses are fantastic, the guitar playing dynamic, heavy and melodic, the drumming furious but kept in control and the compositions as a whole just blow me away. As always the production has been handled by Mat Sinner himself but for the first time he's chosen a partner in crime, and none other than Charlie Bauerfind. So if you're thinking in terms like utterly complete, totally flawless and professional to the bone you're absolutely right. As good as ultimate perfection.

There's only really one thing that remains to be pointed out and that is to remind you of the date you definitely have to write down in your calendar: October 24th since that's when you can make one of the most essential metal investments ever. This is doubtlessly the best Metal Commando completed mission so far and I can more honestly than ever say that you don't need to have any primal fears at all regarding this release. Buy it unheard and you will discover that these Seven Seals are just unbreakable!

Production	Vocals	Compositions
9,5	9	9

Summary
9 chalices of 10 - Mat