Primal Fear – Unbreakable
Frontiers Records – 2012

Unbreakable begins with sweeping orchestral “Unbreakable Pt. 1” with little chiming bells before the guitars tear into “Strike.”  Primal Fear’s twin-engine guitar attack users in Ralf Scheepers dynamic voice.  While listening to this CD, it really struck me who Scheepers reminds me of…former Malice Vocalist James Neal (In the Beginning, License To Kill).  Coming from me, being a huge fan of Malice, this is a big compliment.

Primal Fear rocks out in the third track “Give Em Hell.”  I like the off-time double bass kicks of “Bad Guys Wear Black.”  Magnus Karlsson and Alexander Beyrodt’s riffs are strong and will encourage you to band your head.  Mat Sinner’s bass and Randy Black’s drums further push your body to move in metal motion.

Primal Fear’s signature machine-gun double bass drum sound energizes “And There Was Silence.”  Scheepers sings about fear and silence with equal bits of harmony.  The instrumental break to the lead guitar section is really cool.

The distortion less guitars that begin “Metal Nation” are awesome in setting up the tune to give it much needed contrast with the heavier distortion that explodes out  of the rest of the song.  The band is no less potent in this slower cut.  The vocals are as good as always and I like Mat Sinner’s bass into the lead break part of the tune.  The fast soloing is probably even more noticeable because of the slower pace of the rest of “Metal Nation.”

The acoustic guitar and keyboard brings a wintry European touch to “Where Angels Die.”  Scheepers is in fine form vocalizing the story about this place where angels cannot survive.  This song benefits big time when the band slows down to let one guitarist play the acoustic rhythm, while the other guy flies around the fret board.  I love the slower tempo mixed-up drumming also and then coming out of the solo section with acoustic guitar is nice.

Black kicks a killer beat in “Unbreakable Pt. 2.”  The guitarists know when to hit you with their riffs and when to leave space fore Scheepers to belt out this forceful metal tune.  The two axmen also play some beautiful dual harmonies and trade-off soling.

The guitars are lethal in “Marching Again.;” Scheepers gets his voice up into the high octave Rob Halford territory.  Black’s drums hit like a jack-hammer, having the orchestra lead into the middle is beautiful before Karlsson and Beyrodt obliterate the track with their guitars blasting fret board rounds of ammunition.

I got caught in the melody of the acoustic guitar of “Born Again.”  I think this tune is a great choice and represents the theme of this song with class and integrity.  The guitar solo is played with a lot of soul and passion.  The question the band puts forth to whether there is a God is just as powerful as any harder rocking tune on this album.

Venomous heavy riffs carry “Blaze of Glory.”  The choir backing vocals bring deepness to the soundscape.

The guitars stand up like two king-cobras swaying in and out of “Conviction.”  Scheepers rules the tune with his voice.  This is a hard-hitting song enforces Primal Fear’s standing as a stout defender of the heavy metal faith.

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