Customer Reviews

Seven Seals

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Primal Fear is one of those bands if I the opportunity of experiencing their music before immersing myself in the work a slew of other European metal outfits, I probably held a higher reguard for their work. But by the time my friend did introduce me to Primal Fear, I wasn't exactly bowled over in any shape or form. In fact, before I ever heard Devil's Ground, the only place I knew singer Ralph Scheepers from was Gamma Ray's 1993 album "Insanity & Genius" (a classic if there ever was one).

Despite the above, I had heard from some of my friends that Seven Seals differed from the band's previous outings, and I decided to give it a try. I must say I'm glad I did, because while their other albums were good, the songs never infiltrated cerebral cortex as much as this batch of songs does. Songs such as "Seven Seals" ooze so much class, it isn't even funny. The savagely awesome "Evil Spell" sends chills down my spine with it's psychotic drumming and "In Memory of You" is a hauntingly beautiful ballad that closes the album in pure style.

Still, Seven Seals may come to disappoint some hard core Primal Fear fans who believe speed and power is everything. The album is definitely more symphonic than anything the band has ever done before, but the songs still do contain a very respectable amount of heavyness and it evens out. Those who aren't overly critical of said band sticking exclusively to their roots are likely the ones to get the most out of Seven Seals.

As a final note, I must say I do like how the ideas behind Seven Seals somewhat harkens back to Helloween's Keeper of the Seven Keys 1 & 2. In a way, while not being the same type of music, it somewhat pays tribute to those great albums without it seeming like a sorry attempt at cashing in (a.k.a Helloween's Keeper of the Seven Keys Part III: The Legacy ~ seriously, what where they thinking!?)

So, in closing, I would recommend anyone with an interest in this genre of music to check out Seven Seals, especially those who found that the band's later works were not their cup of tea.

I consider myself an experienced PF fan. I have every release and I have seen them live in Europe as well.

I compare it to Devil's Ground only because this is the second straight release with the latest lineup. I like this one better than Devil's Ground. Although there are more "goth-like" effects, it doesn't sound as "tinny". Everything seems to be in place, thanks to the production work of Charlie Bauernfeind, who also backed Hammerfall on Chapter V. It's more bottom heavy, and things seem very well defined.

My criteria for acceptance of any performance is the following:

1. It rocks if I can put it on while cleaning the bathroom without having to dry my hands to change it

2. It rocks if I can strap it on my arm for a 5-mile run and it feeds my innner passion such that the 60 minutes flies by effortlessly (which still happens whenever I execute this highly productive ritual with my Iron Maiden playlist - 'Where Eagles Dare' is my top choice for "Best Runner's Tune").

3. It rocks if I can play it loud in my car sitting at a stop light and I can look around feeling proud about my choice.

Seven Seals passes all of these tests.

I would have done 5 *'s, but the title track is not the 10-minute high flying batttle of epic proportions that I expected it to be - perhaps I need to listen to it a bit more and have it sink in and to realize that it is a ballad-like 4 minute'ish effort instead (it is not a bad song, just not what I expected). Yes, in a way I guess I was looking for the second coming of 7th Son...

Regardless of this, it is very, very good. Invest in it.

If it was 1987 these guys would be the biggest band in the world, and I mean that in the best way, as in when METAL was king. This album is as good if not better then the Black Sun album, which was awesome. There is no filler material here, every song is a keeper. Brutal, pounding metal with plenty of speed and power.

If you like Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, Slayer, or Testament, buy this album. This band remains one of the brightest lights in the metal world.

Where to start this review? Hmmm..well let's start with those who aren't familiar with Primal Fear. Primal Fear are primarily a mixture between heavy metal and power metal (some could argue power metal is heavy metal but lets not go there). Their vocalist Ralf Scheepers sounds unbelieveably similiar to Rob Halford so comparisons to Judas Priest are very inevitable. He even tried out for Priest i believe and lost out to 'Ripper' Owens. I'm glad he didn't get the gig really because if he did Primal Fear wouldn't exist which would be a tragedy! Anyway Primal Fear in my opinion really resurrect the heavy metal sound that was popular in the late '70s and '80s.

Onto the album then. I must start off and say this is not Primal Fear's best release but that doesn't mean it is bad at all just not their best (hence the 4 stars). Anyway standout tracks for me are 'Demons and Angels', 'Immortal Ones', 'In Memory', 'Diabolus', 'Evil Spell' and 'All For One'. Personally i really don't like 'Rollercoaster' it's just a horrible riff in my mind lol. 'Question of Honour' is OK and so is 'Carniwar'. Anyway onto the reasons. For me songs like 'Evil Spell', 'Immortal Ones' and 'All for One' are just damn catchy songs with those great crunchy and chugging riffs. I still think they should have started this album with 'All for One' because it would grab the listener's attention straight off, that riff is easily the most headbangable riff in history and you'll know which one i mean when you hear it! Songs like 'Demons and Angels' and 'Diabolus' are heavy power metal rockers basically with 'Diabolus' sort of being a bit epic. 'In Memory' is a touching ballad with nice solid guitar work to ensure it works well. The instruments on this album are truly all played very well and there are no complaints from me.

The reason i don't think this album is their best is mainly cause some of the songs are much slower paced and there's more power metal touches here than on previous releases such as choirs and keyboard fills. My favorite releases from them are 'Nuclear Fire' and 'Jaws of Death' which are worth checking out if you thoroughly enjoy this album as those albums will really take you back to the days when heavy metal reigned supreme. But this latest release by Primal Fear still shows them on impeccable form and heralds the message that heavy metal is still reigning with avengeance. Hope that was helpful.

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This is the album I was hoping Primal Fear would make. Finally these talented musicians have stopped trying to sound like Judas Preist and just wrote some amazing metal songs!

Don't get me wrong, I have always liked Primal Fear. They have always been great songwriters and exeptionally talented musicians. But they had a tendancy to sound a bit cheesy at times as well as rely too much on their Judus Preist influence, preventing them from crafting their own sound and getting the credibility they deserve.

The Preist influence has not completely disappeared thankfully, it's still there, but it's mixed in with some other current acts such as Rage, Tad Morose, Iced Earth, and Brainstorm. This album is much more serious and mature. Even the art work may reflect that. A sound Primal Fear was moving toward on 'Devil's Ground' with songs like 'Visions of Fate' and 'The Healer', while at the same time being held back by cheesy songs such as 'Metal is Forever' and 'In Metal'.

There are other aspects helping this album's mature sound as well. The guitars are tuned lower and sound more modern. The production of this album is just world class. As thick and heavy as you can get while still remaining well balanced and clear. Though sometimes the leads are a little low in the mix. Ralf's vocals are also less Halford like too. He seems to be singing with his own voice instead of trying to sound like a Halford impersonator. Wise decision too because Ralf has a stellar voice that can make an impact in the metal world on it's own merit.

The new songs are all finely detailed and well written. Some string and keyboard orchestrations are even carefully worked into some songs very nicely. I won't go into every song in detail as almost every song on this album is very good, making it a very consistent listening experience throughout. However I do think that the first 3 songs are the very best, while 'Question of Honour' is the only track I really didn't care for. Surprisingly the bonus track Union is really good too.

In conclusion, I feel this is Primal Fear's best and most mature work yet! Long time Primal Fear fans won't be dissapointed and the band should attract some new fans as well. My top 5 for 2005 is really getting crowded because this album definately is on that list!

P.S. Did I forget to mention how killer Randy Black's drum work is?

So as you may have noticed from reading other reviews for this album, that the band have changed up their style of bit from their previoud albums. Well, they have and it's not bad. In fact, I believe its a good move on their part. With their previous albums, they all had a Judas Priest "Painkiller" feel to them. Well, with this one they've branched out a bit and added some epic elements to their song writing. By epic elements I mean some minor orchestrations and whatnot. What this does is give the old generic Priest-sounding songs a bit more edge and differenciation. In this case, it's a good move for this band because it might get them out of the "Oh it's a Priest Clone band" critique. Does this album still have that Priest feel? Yeah, a bit but, for the most part, you can tell that Primal Fear is trying to change up their style a bit and I think it'll do'em good in the long run.

Let's just say that after hearing this album AFTER all the other ones, that I hope they continue with this style on their upcoming 2007 album. I just hope they go back to their more traditional cover-art. I hate these bland "seal" cover-arts. Every band out there now has done an album with cover-art like this recently.

I won't go over each song, because several other people already have, but I will say that there are no less than three nearly 8 minute songs on this album. That's a big change for Primal Fear whose songs only generally run in the 4 to 5 minute range. This allows them to be a bit more epic with long sections of nothing but guitar melodies which are very cool. Reminds me of some of Pagan's Mind songs, which also run in the 6 to 8 minute range.

Not as good as "Jaws Of Death" and "Devil's Ground",but indeed another stellar piece of metal,with Ralf sounding exceptional as always.Rest assured and let there be no doubt... Primal Fear' are still that flame-thrower of a metal band they always were.Easily one of the best (if not the best) "real metal bands" to form in the last 10 or so years.Crank it !!

This album is terrific. Anybody who knows Primal Fear knows their high quality judas priest inspired but not ripped off metal. Demons and Angels opens the album and right off the bat you can tell there's change. Still solid hard hitting riffs and choruses to knock you on your butt, but adding new sounds. Middle Eastern styled instruments, more keyboard and symphony work. This album seems to be toned down speed wise from Devils Ground. THIS ALBUM IS ALL ABOUT BUILD UP. Almost every song has a tremondous build up at the beginning. Demons and ANgels,Evil Spell and Question of Honor are the fastest. Evil spell starts slow and buils into a melodic thrash opus that dosnt let up for the remaining 3 and a half minutes. It grooves and makes you wanna break out the air guitar in a hurry. All For One is the longest track and with several listens will have you really appreciating the change of direction Primal Fear is heading. Scheepers, as always, is in top form. Just listen to the song Seven Seals. The chorus makes you feel like his soul is literally coming out of his chest. Buy this because its damn good. If you want something faster with a little more old school feeling buy Devils Ground which is equall impressive.

Funny, or maybe not, how a power metal album from a classic German band which is full of cheddar, is also one of the best power metal CD's you will ever buy. While in America, the music industry is constantly trying to change, and even kill the metal scene, in Europe, along with Japan and South America, metal is metal, and bands like Primal Fear can thrive.

Every Primal Fear release is solid, but this one stands out for me, and I'm not sure why, other than it seems to rock a little harder. Songs like Evil Spell, Immortal Ones, and All For One are quintessential power metal songs, as well as classic metal staples. A ton of balls, and guts, with the over-the-top cheese of eighties German Metal reminiscent of Scorpions, or Accept, and all of the melodic signatures of a good modern Power Metal make up the substance of this landmark LP. Ralf Scheepers has a terrific metal voice, a little like Kai Hansen, the current singer (and lead guitarist and founding member) of Ralf's former band Gamma Ray, plus some Rob Halford, and a little Udo, and Klaus as well.

The music is also outstanding. Nothing to operatic, or neo-classical, but just well put together heavy metal. A lot more Balls to the Wall than Nightwish, or Blind Guardian, this is the kind of Power Metal offering that old school metal fans will be satisfied with. Whether fans of hair, NWOBHM, or thrash, this will not disappoint.

I love this cd...Almost everysong kills on this album, It has a more "POWER" Metal edge than previous releases, what I mean is the little nuances like using keyboards to give the songs some depth, but yet the "Classic" Metal sound is still present! all and all a excellent cd from one of the best Metal bands around waving the flag for Heavy Metal.

My favs on the cd are:
The Immortal Ones, Evil Spell, Rollercoaster and the EPIC song
All for one!