Missing the magic

There’s literally nothing bad about this album…but, there’s not much that stands out about it either. Every song on Primal Fear sounds like what would be playing upon entering live night at a small-town dive bar. Honestly, the musicianship is fantastic, the production is so smooth and it can rabble-rouse with the best of them, but after the party has ended, after the headphones are off, the music is completely forgotten. Even after five back-to-back listens, it was impossible to remember any of the lines or hooks, musical or lyrical. It was difficult to even generate any outstanding elements that differentiate this group from the next. The ingredients for the potion are all there, but the magic is missing.

The reason for this lackluster album is because it is technically a re-issue of their debut album, originally released in 1998. It was remastered by Hansen Studios in Denmark, repackaged to include three bonus tracks, archival photos and exaggerated liner notes and then re-issued to celebrate the band’s 25^thanniversary. The repackaging seems prosaic and dispassionate; take for example the first full-length song on the album being their original hit “Chainbreaker” and the final song on the album being a live version of the same song. A little on the nose, yes?

To point out a few things that do work on this album, the track “Promised Land” is a driving adventure containing intense tom work, melodic guitar harmonies and a surprisingly optimistic viewpoint. The first line of the chorus “Take me back where I belong” is a nice arching line that just barely escapes the jaws of a jarring scream, but also quite possibly could be the album saying it should have been left in ’98. The lyrics, “Just trust your fate and everything will be alright” may just have been the attitude carrying them through the past 25 years.

I also commend their attempted use of divergent, yet cheesy techniques around the album, such as the synthesizer in the track “Tears Of Rage” and extended vrooms that begin the track “Formula One.” They don’t really fit or work, but it’s a step in a direction.

Although this German classic heavy metal group has been enjoying the ride for a long period of time, this re-issue probably wasn’t the best way to celebrate as their fan base isn’t wide enough to appreciate something this momentous and the repackage effort was minimal. This album may have gotten great press after its ’98 debut, but the world is a vastly different place now, and this had no business being put out there to be eaten by critics. We’ve all had plenty of pandemic time to think and create, so an impactful follow-up to their outstanding 2020 release of Metal Commando would have been a better way to commemorate and make waves in the industry.