Customer Reviews

New Religion

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is by all means a fantastic album. If this is your first encounter with Primal Fear you will find power- heavy metal of the best quality from a band that has constantly been making superior records.

For the experienced fans in the ranks of Primal Fear this is as good as every other fear release. It is definitely one step ahead in the course that commenced through "Devil's Ground" (2004) and continued with "Seven Seals" (2005). Primal Fear progress by adding orchestral instruments in parts and female guest vocals by "Epica" lead singer Simone Simons. However, by playing the album one will come to understand that above all, this is a faithful reproduction of the established high- octane, razor-sharp Primal Fear style. You might not even notice the orchestral fills when hearing this album for the first time.

Even the British press had to acknowledge the superiority of this release; Specifically "Power Play" magazine (issue 92) gives this item a 10/10, commenting "put simply, this is brilliant". In other words, it does not get any better than this, a perfect record and as you might know, one doesn't expect to come across this rating very often when it comes to British journalists.

"Classic rock" magazine (issue 112) which does not specialise in power/heavy metal marked this album with 7/10 commenting "(Primal fear have) gone mano a mano with Helloween with their fiercely technical, exuberantly overblown epics"

Finally the album reached number 60 at the German charts, number 67 on the Swedish charts and number 37 on the Japanese charts. You will not regret investing on this remarkable album.

In a year that produced a few disappointing metal releases, Primal Fear did not let the fans down and delivered an album that not only lived up to expectations but (in my opinion) was the best metal album of 2007. Primal Fear have always been subject to comparisons with metal Gods Judas Priest due to the style of power metal they play and vocalist Ralf Scheepers' voice sounding much like Rob Halford. This has turned some people away from their music, but Primal Fear are not a Judas Priest clone. Yes, there are similarities but Primal Fear has developed a sound all their own, and have continued to outdo each album they have released. Not many bands have been able to do this. "Nuclear Fire" was good, "Devils Ground" was better, and then "Seven Seals" was better again. In fact I didn't think they would be able to trump "Seven Seals" but they have done it with "New Religion".

The album opens with a full blasting metal assault in the track "Sign Of Fear". High pitched vocals, pounding drums, and that dual guitar onslaught; it's a great opening track.

Track 2 "Face The Emptiness" has a subtle orchestral backing, more melodic sound and great chorus. I think it is definitely one of the best tracks on the album.

"Every Time It Rains" follows, and opens with Epica's female vocalist Simone Simons and an orchestral arrangement reminiscent of the title track to their previous album. Scheepers and Simons trade verses and combine during the choruses, and their vocals complement each other perfectly. This is the most commercial sounding song on the album, a great song and the obvious choice for a single. It is followed by a typical Primal Fear power rocker in the title track "New Religion". Nothing special about this one, but a good song none the less.

Next comes the highlight of the album, and possibly the best song of the year in "Fighting The Darkness". The song is broken into three parts recorded onto the album as three individual tracks: "Fighting The Darkness", "The Darkness" and "Reprise". I can only guess that it was done this way so that the first part could be released as a single on its own, as the three parts together make this song almost nine minutes long in total. However, the three tracks musically follow on from each other perfectly so the listener is unaffected by the breaks. "The Darkness" is a great instrumental piece, before the chorus returns again in "Reprise". This song has a fabulous chorus and I think it is worth buying the album for this song alone.

As for the rest of the album, "Blood On Your Hands" is another typical Primal Fear power rocker like "New Religion", nothing special but still a good song.

To be critical, it is the next two tracks "The Curse Of Sharon" and "Too Much Time" which are the least likeable tracks in my opinion. The former is ok, but just average really, and the latter is a song about someone playing violent computer games so much they become immune to seeing the violence and look to go to the next level - reality. This song just does nothing for me at all, but it is followed by "Psycho" which has a great head banging riff and beat, plus another great chorus which ends with Scheepers screaming the title. This is another of my favourite songs from the album.

"World On Fire" is another pretty good track, faster paced yet melodic, with a slow break in the middle which then builds up before the guitar solo kicks in and the pace picks up again. "The Man (That I Don't Know)" is another of the albums best songs. It is a slow song, but no mushy lyrics and it is too powerful to be called a ballad. It has acoustic guitars, a great chorus, and builds in intensity. Scheepers sounds terrific on this one, and it is the perfect song to close an album with.

Overall, "New Religion" is a very consistent album of quality power metal with some moments of brilliance. The production is first class (as you would expect after their previous albums) but for me the two things which make this album better than their previous albums and the best album of 2007 are the quality of the song writing and Scheepers' vocal performance. I thoroughly recommend this album.

I got the digi-pack version with the two bonus film clips "Fighting The Darkness" and "Sign Of Fear". I always try to get a digi-pack version, and the film clips aren't bad either.

This new CD constitutes Primal Fear's best work to-date. Hailing from Germany, Primal Fear has released several prior CDs, all of which were competent, but lacking in originality: the band's sound was largely derivative of Judas Priest. On this CD, however, they have evolved a more distinctive style. The music is still in the same genre: intense, powerful metal, reminiscent of the 1980s. What sets this CD apart from their earlier efforts is that both the melodic ideas and instrumental passages are both significantly better than on their previous albums. The songs often feature unusual chord progressions and key changes. Keyboards, orchestrations and guest female vocals also enhance the quality of this release. In essence, this is heavy metal, but with some classical and progressive touches.

Every once in a while, an album will come along that not-so-subtly reminds you that you don't know as much as you think you do about a band. Primal Fear's latest release New Religion is one of those albums. I sampled a couple of Primal Fear discs a few years ago (Nuclear Fire and Jaws of Death) and assumed I knew all I needed to about the band - that they were a Judas Priest worshipping power metal band, and not a terribly memorable one at that. Imagine my surprise when the band hit the stage at last year's ProgPower USA festival. Primal Fear delivered a set of melodic power metal so intense that I literally had to pick my jaw up off the floor. A buddy explained that while their early work paled in comparison to the band's later albums, particularly their 2007 release New Religion.

After experiencing Primal Fear live, there was no way in Hell I was going to pass this album up. And even after that live performance, I think I still underestimated this album. Well, I can admit when I was wrong, and this is me doing so. New Religion is easily the best power metal album I've heard since Blind Guardian's last release, and that's saying something. The heart of the album is the same Judas Priest-influenced power metal I remember from earlier albums, but with a much more mature and melodic style (think Gamma Ray with more um...testicular fortitude). Keyboards are used more prominently on this album, and there are also some tastefully utilized orchestral elements. One particularly bright spot is the song Face the Emptiness, in which Ralf Scheepers duets with Epica vocalist Simone Simons. Speaking of Scheepers, this guy is like a force of nature (with unnaturally large biceps). It's easy to see how he came so close to being chosen as Rob Halford's replacement. He's an incredible frontman with real range, and is the perfect counterpoint to bassist and creative force Mat Sinner. I could list all of the standout tracks on this album, but there really isn't a song that doesn't stand out. New Religion is one incredible heavy metal song after another, and if your heart isn't pounding faster after hearing it, you may want to see a doctor.

I usually try and wrap up a review with a recommendation based on the specific genre that an album falls into. With New Religion I can make it real simple. If you love metal, buy this album! I guess if you buy nothing but extreme music, you won't have much use for Primal Fear, but pretty much every other metal fan should hear this.

PS - Magnus Karlsson (Last Tribe/Starbreaker), who made a guest appearance on this album, has since become a full member of Primal Fear. I can only imagine how great their next album will be with such an incredible guitarist/songwriter/producer on board.

It is a nice album, with good songs, following their path of German Power Metal mixed with Judas Priest (during the verses of Sign of Fear and New Religion, if you don't know which band you are listening to, you wonder if the singer is Halford, hence if the band is Judas Priest). They added some modern-metal details - some synthesized guitars on New Religion and the 3rd track, Every Time it Rains, sounds SO MUCH like Evanescence...but still not so much to change their style.

The main thing that I can criticize from this album is that the songs, though powerful and catchy, are a bit simple. They took an overall simple approach to the album, so they jump to the choruses too quickly without developing the songs a bit more. All songs are between 3 and 4 minutes long and they all consist in 2 or 3 different parts and that's it. The guitar work is sometimes pretty flat; a couple of songs don't have a guitar solo at all and some of those that do have solos, are simply 1 or 2 verses long solos with almost no double guitar work, which is one of the things I enjoy the most in metal.

I'd say that this album doesn't measure up with Jaws of Death, Nuclear Fire or Seven Seals or Black Sun but it is definitely better than Devil's Ground, so it is still money very well spent.

With Tom Naumann out(again), Magnus makes perfect sense. I have the first Allen/Lande album, with Magnus not only playing guitar, but apparently writing and producing about everything on it. And its very good. I'm not sure why one of the other reviewers thinks bands "lose power" over time, I havent really found that at all. And I dont notice that on this disc either. New Religion has some gems....the "Darkness/Fighting the Darkness" idea stands out, along with "Psycho". Ralf, Mat, and Randy will give you a blast of power metal consistently, what more could you want?

New Religion is a very good power metal cd. probaly one of PF's best I rank it right up there with Nuclear Fire. This album sounds very smooth and polished.Ralf sounds great on this album. I think this might be his best vocals yet just check out Sign OF Fear. This album does seems to have more radio friendly songs like Everytime It Rains(with Simone Simons from Epica) and Fighting the Darkness but I dont feel that it takes anything away from the album. As for The rest of the album it sounds like some good old fasion power metal.If you are a fan of Primal Fear this album is definetly worth picking up. If you are new to Primal fear this is a good starting point. If you want to check out some other PF albums I say go with Nuclear Fire next.

This is by all means a fantastic album. If this is your first encounter with Primal Fear you will find power- heavy metal of the best quality from a band that has constantly been making superior records.

For the experienced fans in the ranks of Primal Fear this is as good as every other fear release. It is definitely one step ahead in the course that commenced through "Devil's Ground" (2004) and continued with "Seven Seals" (2005). Primal Fear progress by adding orchestral instruments in parts and female guest vocals by "Epica" lead singer Simone Simons. However, by playing the album one will come to understand that above all, this is a faithful reproduction of the established high- octane, razor-sharp Primal Fear style. You might not even notice the orchestral fills when hearing this album for the first time.

Even the British press had to acknowledge the superiority of this release; Specifically "Power Play" magazine (issue 92) gives this item a 10/10, commenting "put simply, this is brilliant". In other words, it does not get any better than this, a perfect record and as you might know, one doesn't expect to come across this rating very often when it comes to British journalists.

"Classic rock" magazine (issue 112) which does not specialise in power/heavy metal marked this album with 7/10 commenting "(Primal fear have) gone mano a mano with Helloween with their fiercely technical, exuberantly overblown epics"

Finally the album reached number 60 at the German charts, number 67 on the Swedish charts and number 10 on the Japanese charts(Burrn). You will not regret investing on this remarkable album.

For me this album is OK. But why bands lose "power" after several cds? are they using "quality" instead "power"?. Face the emptiness, New Religion and Sign of fear are very good songs.... nevertheless, the rest of the album could be powerless.... you can feel a long "balad" among the cd while listening..... which is booooring¡¡¡¡¡ but with quality.

Well, when I'm listening to this album, after 5 songs I change to Nuclear Fire.

great cd, amazon shipped it fast, the cd is the best yet by primal fear