| Written by Alex Stojanovic TRACK LISTING The Hunter Destroyer Far Away I Am The Primal Fear Tears Of Fire Heroes & Gods Hallucinations Eden Scream The Dead Don't Die Crossfire March Boy March A Tune I Won't Forget Release Date: September 5, 2025 Label: Reigning Phoenix Music / Website: primalfear.de |  |
The eagle of German heavy metal landed again because the German Metal Commando, better known as Primal Fear are back with their 15th studio album: Domination. Since releasing their last album Code Red, the band have gone through some changes yet again. The biggest thing is the latest lineup changes. It came as a surprise when in August 2024, longtime guitarists Alexander Beyrodt and Tom Naumann, and drummer Michael Ehre all left the band simultaneously. Nobody knows what happened, but given that all of them left at the same time, it was most likely over business disagreements with Ralf Scheepers and Mat Sinner. However, that didn't stop the band's two fearless founders from soldiering on, because for the new guitar team, in came a familiar face and a totally new face. Magnus Karlsson, who has been with the band since 2008, but has not toured with them for like a decade, will now be back playing live with the band again, and the new face is Thalia Bellazecca, making this the first female that Primal Fear has ever had, while stepping on to the drum throne is Andre Hilgers.
Domination marks the beginning of this new chapter for the band, and it's everything we've come to expect from Primal Fear as per usual, which is stomping, epic and raging riffs, high-octane vocals with some corny/cheesy lyrics and song titles being the icing on the heavy metal cake. The album starts with such a strong opener in "The Hunter", which has one of the record's strongest choruses. Strong choruses are always a guarantee with Primal Fear, and there's plenty of them on this record. I'm not going to lie though, when I saw the title "I Am The Primal Fear", my first thought was, "How many more song do we need with the word 'Fear' in the title from you guys?!" I find it's kind of even cheesier that they chose to include their band name in a song title. That doesn't mean that the music itself isn't good. It's without a doubt one of the record's catchiest cuts, even if the lyrics bleed metal cliches.
The album is divided into two equal segments because "Hallucinations" is perfectly placed in the middle as an interlude that serves as like an intermission, heading right into the longest and most epic track on the record "Eden", clocking in at just over 7 minutes. It can be classified as a stereotypical power metal ballad with a grandiose soaring chorus and spine-tingling harmonies. As the second half continues on, each song is either hit or miss because the songs start to feel like I already heard them earlier in the record. However, it's during the last track "A Tune I Won't Forget" where we get something a bit different. It's the slowest song on the record, with the first half being purely piano and vocals until the guitars and drums arrive in the second half with soaring chords and lots of space between the drum beats, serving as a great ending track that plays while the credits roll.
In conclusion, Domination is just another Primal Fear album, depending on how you look at that. I think this album could've easily put three or four songs in the second half aside for the next record. However, it's an album that will be embraced by hardcore fans, as well as fans of traditional and power metal, but I can't say that it will produce any future classics in the live set. From a fan's perspective, I always said that the last Primal Fear album to really hold my attention from start to finish was Apocalypse, and unfortunately, the ones that followed contained rather spotty great songs while the rest were fillers. The second half of Domination will require a few more listens to see if any of the filler songs make me change my mind, but we'll see. However, there's no denying that Ralf Scheepers' vocals are still in prime form and he still delivers some of the best high notes that would even give Rob Halford the heebie-geebies. Seriously, this man is so underrated, and he deserves way more respect than he does.
Domination marks the beginning of this new chapter for the band, and it's everything we've come to expect from Primal Fear as per usual, which is stomping, epic and raging riffs, high-octane vocals with some corny/cheesy lyrics and song titles being the icing on the heavy metal cake. The album starts with such a strong opener in "The Hunter", which has one of the record's strongest choruses. Strong choruses are always a guarantee with Primal Fear, and there's plenty of them on this record. I'm not going to lie though, when I saw the title "I Am The Primal Fear", my first thought was, "How many more song do we need with the word 'Fear' in the title from you guys?!" I find it's kind of even cheesier that they chose to include their band name in a song title. That doesn't mean that the music itself isn't good. It's without a doubt one of the record's catchiest cuts, even if the lyrics bleed metal cliches.
The album is divided into two equal segments because "Hallucinations" is perfectly placed in the middle as an interlude that serves as like an intermission, heading right into the longest and most epic track on the record "Eden", clocking in at just over 7 minutes. It can be classified as a stereotypical power metal ballad with a grandiose soaring chorus and spine-tingling harmonies. As the second half continues on, each song is either hit or miss because the songs start to feel like I already heard them earlier in the record. However, it's during the last track "A Tune I Won't Forget" where we get something a bit different. It's the slowest song on the record, with the first half being purely piano and vocals until the guitars and drums arrive in the second half with soaring chords and lots of space between the drum beats, serving as a great ending track that plays while the credits roll.
In conclusion, Domination is just another Primal Fear album, depending on how you look at that. I think this album could've easily put three or four songs in the second half aside for the next record. However, it's an album that will be embraced by hardcore fans, as well as fans of traditional and power metal, but I can't say that it will produce any future classics in the live set. From a fan's perspective, I always said that the last Primal Fear album to really hold my attention from start to finish was Apocalypse, and unfortunately, the ones that followed contained rather spotty great songs while the rest were fillers. The second half of Domination will require a few more listens to see if any of the filler songs make me change my mind, but we'll see. However, there's no denying that Ralf Scheepers' vocals are still in prime form and he still delivers some of the best high notes that would even give Rob Halford the heebie-geebies. Seriously, this man is so underrated, and he deserves way more respect than he does.
FINAL RATING
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