Primal Fear – Code Red

Atomic Fire Records

Release Date – September 1^st 2023

Review by  Smudge Smith

It’s a huge welcome back to Primal Fear who had to curtail activity for a while whilst bass player/writer Mat Sinner recovered from illness which saw him in eight different hospitals. I truly hope everything is ok and from the sounds of this record he’s fighting fit.

The classic Primal Fear burst forth on opener ‘Another Hero’ with the mighty lungs of Ralf Scheepers giving us an introductory scream over three heavy riffing guitars and we’re away on a power metal banger. What a great way to start. ‘Bring The Noise’ rattles along from the start courtesy of drummer Michael Ehre and his bass drums. We get another load of heavy melodic riffery and Scheepers gives us his full impressive range before the immense ‘Deep In The Night’ gets the head banging. Sinner’s bass leads the verses allowing Scheepers to give us another vocal masterclass and what a catchy melody, this is going to go down a bomb live – it’s huge! ‘Cancel Culture’ is proper power metal and proper rapid too, verging on thrash then it just crushes on the chorus.   ‘Play A SongIt’s a huge welcome back to Primal Fear who had to curtail activity for a while whilst bass player/writer Mat Sinner recovered from illness which saw him in eight different hospitals. I truly hope everything is ok and from the sounds of this record he’s fighting fit.

’ is a fine fist pumper then ‘The World Is On Fire’ is an epic classic metal anthem that’s full of fills and harmonics. The acoustics come out for the intro on even more epic ‘Their Gods Have Failed’. Scheepers shows another side of his voice until he’s joined by a huge choral backing, can’t wait to hear this live. What are you going to get with a track called ‘Steelmelter’? It ain’t gonna be an acoustic ballad that’s for sure. We get razor-sharp riffs and Sinner’s huge bass driving it along before the ballsy bangin’ ‘Raged By Pain’ with Scheepers sounding a lot like Udo at times. A lilting piano starts ‘Forever’ and it’s time to get your lighters out. Scheepers croons over some strings before we get chords crashing on a classy power metal ballad. Things get’ is a fine fist pumper then ‘The World Is On Fire’ is an epic classic metal anthem that’s full of fills and harmonics. The acoustics come out for the intro on even more epic ‘Their Gods Have Failed’. Scheepers shows another side of his voice until he’s joined by a huge choral backing, can’t wait to hear this live. What are you going to get with a track called ‘Steelmelter’? It ain’t gonna be an acoustic ballad that’s for sure. We get razor-sharp riffs and Sinner’s huge bass driving it along before the ballsy bangin’ ‘Raged By Pain’ with Scheepers sounding a lot like Udo at times. A lilting piano starts ‘Forever’ and it’s time to get your lighters out. Scheepers croons over some strings before we get chords crashing on a classy power metal ballad. Things get back to the heavy on the monumental ‘Fearless’ – simple and direct – it punches you square in the face and proceeds to beat you into submission.

Much like Udo – Primal Fear has a fearsome back catalogue, and this is equal to anything else they have released. The sounds are huge, and the performances are world-class, especially from Scheepers who shows right here why he is regarded so highly. Want metal? Here it is in all its glory. What are you waiting for? Yeah, you will have to wait until September 1^st, it will be worth the wait!