Twenty-two years and counting, the Power Metal veterans known as Primal Fear have been tearing up the globe since the late 1990s with a daunting array of piercing vocals and powerful melodies that can almost literally shake a concrete foundation. Even after all these years, releasing twelve LPs, two live albums, and two “Best of” compilations Primal Fear is still going strong, if not stronger, in their journey to spread exhilarating Heavy Metal music to the worldwide masses. A force to be reckoned with, Primal Fear’s most notable act came in early 2012 as the band debuted on the U.S. Billboard Heatseekers Chart with 2011’s Unbreakable. Fast forward 22 years from conception, Primal Fear return home to Nuclear Blast Records for the first time since 2006 to release their brand new album, Metal Commando, on Friday, July 24th, 2020.
Returning with a vengeance, Primal Fear wasted no time following up their previous LP, 2018’s Apocalypse, which was released that summer. This time around, Germany’s powerhouse act dish out eleven nail biting tracks which see Primal Fear Rock the “Metal Nation” in supreme fashion. As the first two singles kick off Metal Commando, the monstrous “I Am Alive” is up beginning with Lamb Of God like melodic guitar and stimulating cymbal taps to blend in some Modern Metal. Then, “Along Came The Devil” arrives as a raunchy and ballsy piece of work with blinding falsettos. So far, these first two tracks emphatically show off Primal Fear’s ability to be a straight up kicking Heavy Metal band.
Moving along, “Halo” continues this trend beginning aggressively while the track also takes on a prideful depth. Deep undertones, “Hear Me Calling” is a dynamic uptempo ballad with a nice big chorus. A heavy killer, “The Lost & The Forgotten” is a vehement song that gives a pounding between the cumbersome guitar work and screaming vocals, you can really feel the open flame bombs that should accompany this song at a live show. As if there was any doubt, Primal Fear show us who they are with “My Name Is Fear” before dying things down with sad and the purely acoustic ballad entitled “I Will Be Gone.” Doing what they do best, Primal Fear inspire with an anthemic “Raise Your Fists” followed by “Howl Of The Banshee,” “Afterlife,” and the thirteen minute epic “Infinity.”
One of the hardest hitting albums in their collection, Primal Fear’s Metal Commando shows off what the German Power Metal heroes do best, Rock Hard! Concocting loud and heavy guitar riffs with ear piercing falsettos, Metal Commando is a nice collection of traditional Heavy Metal that does both Rock and speak to the heart all at the same time. Fans of Primal Fear will be happy to crank this one past eleven and that is why Cryptic Rock awards Metal Commando 4.5 out of 5 stars.
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