Frontiers
2009
1. Before the Devil Knows You're Dead (Intro)
2. Riding the Eagle
3. Six Times Dead (16.6)
4. Black Rain
5. Under the Radar
6. 5.0 / Torn
7. Soar
8. Killbound
9. No Smoke Without Fire
10. Night After Night
11. Smith & Wesson
12. The Exorcist
With this marking their eighth album, Primal Fear have built a pretty successful name for themselves in the realm of power metal. Personally speaking, I've almost always enjoyed their output as I'd classify 7 out of 8 as at least good with the sole exception being Devil's Ground. With that in mind, of course I was anticipating this one.
After the rejuvenation of the Primal Fear sound and two of their best albums in the form of Seven Seals and New Religion the band does have a tough standard to meet and I can't help but feel like this one doesn't quite do it. This is a pretty good album, but there seems to be less of an epic and melodic feel and not as much of the complexities of the previous two. I don't hear as much subtle backing orchestration, etc included in the process and as such this reminds me a bit more of their older material than the recent. There definitely is still some melodic focus here and it's not as Painkiller-esque as the beginning, but nor does it seem as epic and moving. Basically, this album just doesn't hit as home with me in vibe or songwriting. This is not to say that this album is a loss as songs like Six Times Dead deliver with an interesting gang vocal punch that gives it a lot of muscle along with the riffs and Riding The Eagle is a nice typical PF speed number. Nothing new to that one really, but it is heavy and gets my head moving. Smith & Wesson is also worth noting as a nice heavy groove number which Mat Sinner has some skill at writing. Worth noting as something of an oddball track is Hands Of Time which starts out sounding very little like a metal song at all. Primal Fear has done ballads before, but this one is kinda on the soft rock side at the beginning. It does eventually pick up into a sort of power ballad mold though and isn't bad for what it is.
Overall I like this album and don't have much to complain about. It does seem like this album is a little less interesting in terms of songwriting, but it's still a pretty decent German power album with some cool riffs and a nice guitar sound. If you're a Primal Fear fan than there's not much doubt you'll find some good songs here.
Highlights: Six Times Dead, Smith & Wesson, Riding The Eagle
Rating - 3.5/5
2. Riding the Eagle
3. Six Times Dead (16.6)
4. Black Rain
5. Under the Radar
6. 5.0 / Torn
7. Soar
8. Killbound
9. No Smoke Without Fire
10. Night After Night
11. Smith & Wesson
12. The Exorcist
With this marking their eighth album, Primal Fear have built a pretty successful name for themselves in the realm of power metal. Personally speaking, I've almost always enjoyed their output as I'd classify 7 out of 8 as at least good with the sole exception being Devil's Ground. With that in mind, of course I was anticipating this one.
After the rejuvenation of the Primal Fear sound and two of their best albums in the form of Seven Seals and New Religion the band does have a tough standard to meet and I can't help but feel like this one doesn't quite do it. This is a pretty good album, but there seems to be less of an epic and melodic feel and not as much of the complexities of the previous two. I don't hear as much subtle backing orchestration, etc included in the process and as such this reminds me a bit more of their older material than the recent. There definitely is still some melodic focus here and it's not as Painkiller-esque as the beginning, but nor does it seem as epic and moving. Basically, this album just doesn't hit as home with me in vibe or songwriting. This is not to say that this album is a loss as songs like Six Times Dead deliver with an interesting gang vocal punch that gives it a lot of muscle along with the riffs and Riding The Eagle is a nice typical PF speed number. Nothing new to that one really, but it is heavy and gets my head moving. Smith & Wesson is also worth noting as a nice heavy groove number which Mat Sinner has some skill at writing. Worth noting as something of an oddball track is Hands Of Time which starts out sounding very little like a metal song at all. Primal Fear has done ballads before, but this one is kinda on the soft rock side at the beginning. It does eventually pick up into a sort of power ballad mold though and isn't bad for what it is.
Overall I like this album and don't have much to complain about. It does seem like this album is a little less interesting in terms of songwriting, but it's still a pretty decent German power album with some cool riffs and a nice guitar sound. If you're a Primal Fear fan than there's not much doubt you'll find some good songs here.
Highlights: Six Times Dead, Smith & Wesson, Riding The Eagle
Rating - 3.5/5
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