(Rated this album with 4 out of 10) Reviewed by
A music fan
from Reston, Virginia USA
i must be fickle. when primal fear's debut hit the streets it was such a relief after priest's 'jugulator' debacle. i was one of those voices who stated that "if you miss 'painkiller' era priest, you need to check out this band". well, i retract my statement. scheepers sounds hoarse and no better than tim owens (priest's replacement) on this effort. this disc has a flat, unengaging guitar sound that is common in metal today. you wouldn't even know these guys employed two guitarists! remember when it was possible to tell downing from tipton and gorham from robertson? remember when each track on an album was distinct from one another? consider "defenders of the faith," "powerslave," or "restless and wild" - can you confuse the various songs within these albums? since primal fear cites these efforts as inspiration, i am amazed at the sameness of their songwriting. i kept having to glance at the cd player to double-check what song i was hearing. bands ought to go back to writing 40 minute albums where every song is distinct and memorable. for many bands, just because you've got 65 minutes doesn't mean you ought to use every digitally processed moment of it for 'value'. dubious highlight of the disc is the cover of rainbow's 'kill the king' which can be found on the "holy dio" tribute album anyway. buy that instead, there's an even better version of the same song on it.
