PRIMAL FEAR - 16.6 BEFORE THE DEVIL KNOW'S YOU'RE DEAD
Frontiers Records - May 22nd 2009

After a slew of Judas Priest inspired albums (some better than others), Primal Fear took an evolutionary leap in 2005. The Seven Seals album showed more maturity and greater diversity in the songwriting department, while not losing sight of their Teutonic metal roots. Unfortunately they followed it in 2007 with New Religion, a blatant attempt at wowing a bigger audience.

Two years later the band presents its new album 16:6 (Before the devil knows you’re dead) and I’m relieved to say it’s a fine return to form. Typical fast PF head bangers like opener Riding The Eagle and Under The Radar are contrasted with heavier fare like Torn or Killbound, the latter as close to old school PF as it gets. There are several songs with a distinct modern slant like Six Times Dead or Soar. These never come across as forced though but feel like an organic part of the album.  There are also several semi ballads, with No Smoke Without Fire and Hands Of Time standing out.

New guitarist Magnus Karlsson is a valuable addition to the line up. The guitar leads are fiery and intense. Dare I say on a whole new level? He also seems to add lots of little keyboard touches to the mix. Excellent! The inclusion of Randy Black has proven a masterstroke over the last couple of albums. He’s an amazing drummer, who combines power and technique with groove, something sorely lacking in his predecessor. Ralf Scheepers seems to have lost some of his Halford mannerisms. He sounds more his own man now than he ever did before. Production is dry and solid, no frills.

Overall a very good album, but not Primal Fear’s best work.

Rating - 85%
Review by Joost Vlasschaert

QUEENSRŸCHE - AMERICAN SOLDIER
Rhino - Out Now

This is a hard album for me to review. Up until Empire, Queensrÿche were one of my absolute favourite bands. Promised Land was a bit of a letdown, and everything after that was just a steady decline, culminating in the under produced and underwritten monstrosity tat is Operation Mindcrime 2.

So, can the boys turn the tide?

Unfortunately, the answer is no. Opening track Sliver is a decent, modern take on the Queensrÿche sound, but then the rot sets in. Most of the tracks plod along at the same sub-medium tempo. Riffs? Not on this album mate! Clean guitars for the verses, distorted chords for the choruses is what you get on 90% of the tracks. Remember the brilliant interplay between Chris DeGarmo and Michael Wilton? Well, DeGarmo is long gone and Wilton can’t seem to be bothered. There are some hints at lead guitar, but nowhere do they develop into something I’d call a good lead. The nadir of the album is the horrible duet with the little kid on Home Again. If they were trying to recapture the pathos of Suite Sister Mary, they’ve failed. Pathetic is a better description… The spoken bits between the songs only make the listening experience more tedious.

So, is there nothing good to say about this album? Well, yes. Production is really good. Geoff Tate is still a great singer but that about sums it up. Overall, it’s a dreary, boring album. I can’t say I’m disappointed, because I was expecting even worse.

Rating – 60%
Review by Joost Vlasschaert

 

The name Chris Laney is probably a new one to most of our readers.  In short Chris is a singer songwriter hailing from Sweden this is his debut release but he has worked with Randy Piper’s Animal and Zan Clan, Chris also has a rich pedigree from working in the acclaimed Polar Studios which was built by members of Abba and continues to be one of the top studios in Scandinavia.

Musically Chris offers up modern hard rock along the lines of  the harder rocking edges of Bon Jovi or Europe which is to say catchy melodies and chord progressions all backed up a very strong production. Over half the songs are in the radio friendly 3:30 running time and this is clearly an attempt to gain radio play which to be fair it is likely to do on certain rock stations yet I cannot see this breaking into the mainstream anytime soon. 

There is a common theme in the tracks from start to finish and as a result the album does end up a little bland and faceless. I can’t say Chris is the best vocalist in the world and this is arguably my biggest gripe with the album, the vocals just don’t work with the music too well most of the time they are just too gruff. That said “The Stranger In You” is a very strong number, utilising light and shade from verse to chorus and Chris’ vocals work well in this context where he sounds a little like Perry McCarty (anyone remember him?).  “Pissed At What Ya Missed” is also another success, with a late 80s hard rock feel and another good vocal despite the rather cheesy title vocal refrain.  “Make My Day” is also another contender for track of the album and is also home to some backing vocals from Mats Leven (Ex Malmsteen, Ex At Vance). Unfortunately the album closes with 3 very average tracks meaning the album doesn’t exactly go out with a bang.  

Overall, this is an ok album, nothing incredibly special and not one that screams “play me again” when you’ve finished, but it shows that Laney does have talent and if he can drop the edges that are quite obviously aimed at radio and comes across as clichéd the next album should be an improvement.

Rating – 60%