Primal Fear's Reviews

Nuclear Fire

A good, solid Judas Priest-styled metal album

If you're a fan of 80s styled heavy metal and you grew up in the 90s in the US, chances are that you believe that the metal scene all but vanished since the dawn of the 90s. Not necessarily the case. Over in Europe, the metal scene continued on with several subgenres, namely thrash, power, and death metal. Most of these newer heavy metal bands borrowed influences from metal legends of the last generation such as Metallica, Iron Maiden, Megadeth, and others. Primal Fear, a thrash/power metal band which formed in 1998 is no exception.

Make no mistake, Primal Fear is a band which takes its influence HEAVILY from Painkiller-era Judas Priest, with a few Helloween qualities thrown in for good measure. These guys are not clones of Priest by any means because they infuse their own energy into each of the rockers here, but at the same time, if you were a fan of some of the heavier Priest albums you will find yourself in familiar territory with Primal Fear. Like Priest, PF employs a twin guitar attack during the solos. The most noteworthy thing though is how vocalist Ralf Scheefers (formerly of Gamma Ray) sounds almost EXACTLY like Rob Halford. To me, he should have been the Priest replacement vocalist, not Tim Ripper Owens. Think of Ralf as a more youthful Halford who at times can scream higher than his predecessor, though Rob is still the better vocalist. It's not all blind praise to Priest though because in an interview with Rob Halford once, he even stated that he was good friends with Primal Fear and believes them to be a strong continuing force in metal. How does the third album fare? Lets see:

1) Angel In Black- GREAT OPENER. It's got a cool intro and then breaks into a fast paced anthemic rocker. 9/10

2) Kiss Of Death- Awesome song, although I do agree with another reviewer who says that the intro sounds EXACTLY like the intro to the Priest song 'Hell Patrol' from Painkiller. Excellent chorus. One of the many album highlights. 10/10

3) Back From Hell- Fastest and heaviest track on the album. Scheefers really belts out the high vocals on this one. Powerful, yet not the best. 8/10

4) Now Or Never- This track is more mid-paced. Catchy and noteworthy. 9/10

5) Fight The Fire- DEFINITELY A WINNER. This song really takes advantage of Metallica-like riffing and creates a thrash standout with excellent guitar solos. 10/10

6) Eye Of An Eagle- Anthemic and powerful track. This one is simply a good headbanger tune. 9/10

7) Bleed For Me- There's only one ballad on this album thankfully, but fortunately this one is an excellent doom-&-gloom type ballad. Ralf proves that he can sing in a more melodic tone as opposed to always using his scream like in the other tracks. GOOD TRACK. 10/10

8) Nuclear Fire- The title track is fast just like JP's song 'Ram It Down'. Complete with an excellent intro, chorus, and twin guitar attack. Everything you can ask for in a faster metal song. Another phenomenal rocker. 10/10

9) Red Rain- Good old 80s styled thrasher similar to the Priest song 'Between The Hammer & The Anvil'. One of my favorites, though not as standout as some of the other tracks. 9/10

10) Iron Fist In A Velvet Glove- (my copy of Nuclear Fire does not contain this bonus track. I haven't heard it, so I won't review it.)

11) Fire On The Horizon- A good, but not great fast rocker. Has a decent solo section towards the end though. 8/10

12) Living For Metal- AWESOME METAL ANTHEM! The album closes with this tribute to metal music. They don't mention it in the lyrics, but they are implying their story of growing up listening to JP, and then forming their own metal band in the vein of their heroes. Very catchy, perhaps my favorite PF song. 10/10

While these guys are anything but revolutionary, they do play their music well and with great passion. PF is a band who will NEVER sell out to another type of music. They will only continue playing what they're good at. The real rating for Nuclear Fire is 4.5 stars, though Amazon doesn't allow it (AARGH). If you are a huge fan of JP or Rob's newer band Halford and want more of the same kind of music, PF is the perfect fix. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED TO ANY FAN OF HEAVY METAL.

Buy this album on Amazon at $15.98