One of the best metal albums of the last ten years.
Teutonic metal masters Primal Fear are back with studio album number nine, and in my humble opinion it is without a doubt their best album ever. However, with a back catalogue as good as theirs, that maybe a rash thing to say so I'd better explain my assertion!
Reason one: the vocals of Ralf Scheepers. These are back to their screaming, high pitched greatness, gone the more hard rock approach of the last few albums and in their place that Halfordesque scream reigns supreme once again. Please believe me when I say he hasn't sounded this good or powerful in years. Then we move onto the sheer quality of the musicianship as reason two: Alex Beyrodt and Magnus Karlsson are outstanding on the guitars, their solos blister the skin from your face with their heat and ferocity while the bass and drums of Matt Sinner and Randy Black respectively sound like Thor raising up a hurricane.
The biggest reason for my assertion in saying that 'Unbreakable' is their best CD yet is the songs. These are so phenomenal that I simply had to hit the repeat button as soon as this album finished and found myself experiencing this aural masterpiece over and over again. 'Give Em Hell' is fantastic slice of melodic heavy metal, guitars fill the room as it thunders from the stereo and the voice of Mr Scheepers threatens to shatter your windowpanes. To then follow this amazing track with the likes of 'And There Was Silence', the long lost brother to 'Nuclear Fire', where once again the guitars accelerate at an F1 pace and the vocals rage, or 'Where Angels Die', an eight minute plus epic, that has the power to scorch the paint on your walls (a cut that you just have to revisit, so you can appreciate the full magic of the song) is pure genius. After the brilliance of those songs, Primal Fear then decide to throw in for good measure one of the best "METAL" tracks I have heard in many a moon (blue or otherwise!), namely 'Unbreakable Pt2', which to these old ears of mine is damn near metal perfection. The guitar riff has come straight from heaven (or should that be hell?) the vocals boom and command, hitting the notes only animals can hear and every instrument fits together so well, that you just don't want this song to end (EVER!).
Summing up this album is easy because after you've played it a few times you soon realize that you're in the presence of a Monster Metal Record, not just Primal Fear's best, but one of the metal albums of the last ten years. Primal Fear will get many plaudits for this CD for very many years to come. They will be and are richly deserved.
Ian Johnson