(almost caught up)
(also, next Tuesday's my birthday - I already have a plan to do Ringo Starr's new album in celebration. ^_^)
So, Primal Fear is a heavy metal band, and this is their ninth studio album, an impressive number. Their website covers an extensive history of the band, both in English and... Swedish? as well as band member bios. I take it back - they're German. Shows how much I know. It kind of only goes up through their last album or so, but it's got a lot of good info on their discography.
I don't know, this awesome awesome punk version of "Like A Prayer" is on my playlist right now... hope these guys can stack up!
"Unbreakable (Part 1)" is like a movie score start. There's a joke on a few reviews and message boards that these guys name everything after movies, and so maybe that's where this comes from. It's epic though - straight out of some of the best movies you've seen. It builds and leads in to whatever we're about to hear in a thrilling way.
What we're about to, and are now, hearing, is "Strike." This is not a new sound in anyway, but a welcome one form this band. All high-pitched, all fast. It doesn't necessarily strike me as anything special, but it's a cool start and lead in.
"Give Em Hell" is a little more inviting as a song. There's more variation to the voices and melodies that before, and it makes for a more interesting song to listen to. There's also more to enjoy with the lyrics for some reason, as it's definitely a power heavy meal song.
The next one is the lead single, "Bad Guys Were Black."
"And There Was Silence" follows that. One thing I've noticed (sort of characteristic of the style) if that the songs are impossibly long. Most are 5 minutes + a piece, largely due to long guitar solos, and even longer drum rolls on the ends. It's not awful, but it does get a little old after so many songs.
A call out to everyone to join the "Metal Nation" is next, to kind of prove me a little wrong given this slightly different sound. It's actually a pretty interesting thing to hear after having put so many other albums out. It's almost like a call out to get more people to listen to this music. It works though.
"Where Angels Die" brings in this dark tone that I think I've secretly wanted the entire album. James Durbin may be playing in my head a little here. God, this is a twisted little song. It's exactly what I think you'd expect to hear here.
We're now up to "Unbreakable (Part 2)" but this time it's not an instrumental piece of epic awesomeness. It's an actual song with lyrics. It's another classic sound to another track of the album. I actually feel like I've heard something like this or extremely close to it. It's just hard to shake that feeling.
"Marching Again" starts with this very ghostly lead in, then brings on these strings that are just hauntingly enchanting. The rest of the song goes downhill from there. Sorry, but that's how I feel about this. It's just not that great.
We get more of that epic heavy feel again from "Born Again." It asks a lot of hard questions about God and our relationships there. There's a heavy touch on death and the afterlife. It's just a heavy song all around, but no worries - we get a lonnngggg guitar solo to help out the pain
"Blaze of Glory" screams its name in the guitar licks that come in throughout. I honestly zoned out, because it was pretty typical, and missed the beginning of "Conviction" completely. Actually, it wasn't until I heard him yelling "conviction" that I realize it sounded just slightly different.
The final song is "Night of the Jumps." Unfortunately, at this point, I'm completely disinterested. I don't know how to best explain that. It's just that so much of the album sounded alike. This is a good ending song though - it's a final celebration of sorts.
Added To My Playlist:
- "Unbreakable (Part 1)" - Spotify, YouTube
- "Give Em Hell" - Spotify, YouTube
- "Bad Guys Wear Black" - Spotify, YouTube
A lot of this had too similar of a sound, but that's sort of what the genre calls for. There were some definite gems in there, and the band hit things the way they should given a long history of success. They proved they can still make a studio album that's exciting and exactly what loyal listeners are probably looking for.