The German band Primal Fear is born in 1997 under the impulse of Ralf Scheepers. The latter, however well installed in Gamma Ray, chooses to leave the band in 1994 to try to become the singer of Judas Priest. In spite of efforts of almost 2 years, Scheepers is discarded. Far from letting himself be defeated, the man sets up his own heavy metal band with the help of Matt Sinner, the bassist and singer of the band that bears his name and who is also very involved in the Nuclear Blast label with which Primal Fear will sign.
For this self-titled debut album, Sinner brings along his guitarist and keyboardist Tom Naumann and his drummer Klaus Sperling. Very quickly, Primal Fear launches itself with a self-titled debut album that offered a melodic heavy metal inspired by Judas Priest and carried by the melodic and powerful voice of Ralf Scheepers.
The album starts very strong with 'Chainbreaker', a track that reminds of 'Painkiller', destined to become an anthem in concert, with a catchy chorus, a very high vocal and incisive solos purely heavy power metal. The following confirms the musical quality of the whole with tracks like 'Silver & Gold', 'Promised Land' or 'Dollars', direct and efficient. Sometimes a more power metal influence a la Gamma Ray comes out, like on the very fast and incisive 'Nine Lives' with its epic chorus and its very speed metal solos.
As often in a first album, all is not perfect. A title like "Formula One" with its sound effects makes you smile by its naivety and its simplicity. The same goes for a track like 'Tears Of Rage', a long epic power ballad that has trouble convincing. If Scheepers is very comfortable in this calmer register, its shaky structure makes it difficult to listen to. To finish, Primal Fear offers three classic tracks that are 'Battalions Of Hate' (sounding very Accept), 'Thunderdome' and 'Running In The Dust', two tracks that are again very close to Judas Priest.
This first opus of Primal Fear remains interesting even if it does not revolutionize the genre. Typical of what we can hear in the genre at the end of the 90s, very well produced, written and interpreted by experienced musicians, it still lacks personality, the shadow of Judas Priest being present on most of the tracks. In spite of that, it will meet a huge success in Germany and launch the career of the band in the most beautiful way.