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PRIMAL FEAR – BLACK SUN
2002 Nuclear Blast
The Power Metal masters return with a vengeance!!! BLACK SUN is a very solid album. Once again, the songs totally revolve around singer Ralf Scheepers' vocals and choruses. The band plays perfectly -produced power chords while Ralf takes us lyrically on a journey through space and time ("Black Sun" and "Lightyears From Home"). Other song topics include mind control ("Mind Control" and "Mind Machine"), September 11th ("Armageddon" and "We Go Down") and of course, Metal . All are great songs that stand alongside their other classics.

I have been into Primal Fear since the very beginning, and I like all their albums. I probably favor the first album the most, because it was the catchiest (and, as usual, the first thing you hear by a band sometimes remains your preference.) I don't think BLACK SUN replaces PRIMAL FEAR as my favorite album by the band, because nothing on here is as wide open as say, "Running In The Dust," or "Chainbreaker," two songs I never get tired of. But BLACK SUN is full of tons of great double bass drumming, crunching guitar licks and soaring vocals. Believe it or not, there's not really any filler songs. It's all good stuff.

The artwork and layout of BLACK SUN are worth noting. The cover features the PF eagles encircing a black sun, again superbly painted by Stephan Lohrmann. The layout (by Thomas Ewerhard) is well done also.

Ralf Scheepers has grown a little hair back since the NUCLEAR FIRE baldness, but has apparently decided not to go back to the mullet look. Now he has a goatee like Rob Halford. It doesn't matter to me what he does, because he is easily one of the best singers in the world. Hey, remember, this band is about Ralf Scheepers outdoing Judas Priest at their own game. And they've done it since 1998. So sing along.

DISCOGRAPHY:

PRIMAL FEAR (Nuclear Blast) 1998
JAWS OF DEATH (Nuclear Blast) 1999
NUCLEAR FIRE (Nuclear Blast) 2001
HORRORSCOPE (Nuclear Blast) 2002
BLACK SUN (Nuclear Blast) 2002
Click here for Link to PRIMAL FEAR MP3 Samples!