Black Sun review 1

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Black Sun review 1

The Metal commando Portal

After an excellent start to their career with the commendable 'Primal Fear' and 'Jaws Of Death' albums (both of which shifted substantial quantities of product), German power metal quintet Primal Fear really struck gold with the release of last year's 'Nuclear Fire' album. Along with Halford's gigantic 'Resurrection' opus and Gamma Ray's wonderful 'No World Order!' , 'Nuclear Fire' is undoubtedly the best power metal album to come out of Europe in the last five years or so, way ahead of anything their rivals have managed to produce (even the much vaunted elder statesmen such as Helloween or Judas Priest), the six figure sales figures merely reinforcing the point. Although technically speaking, their blend of classic Judas Priest and Gamma Ray isn't really breaking any new ground, Primal Fear have that elusive X-factor which sets them apart from the masses, the ability to write crushingly heavy, yet instantly addictive melodies, something that went into overdrive on 'Nuclear Fire'. Backed up by an ever growing, somewhat formidable live reputation (something anyone who saw them blitz last year's Bloodstock festival will no doubt attest to), Primal Fear stand poised on the brink of true greatness. Small wonder then that the metal scene awaits the release of their fourth studio album 'Black Sun' with baited breath. With sales potential likely to eclipse even 'Nuclear Fire', label Nuclear blast are perhaps understandably a little cagey about 'Black Sun' getting into the public domain before its official release, hence like the last Helloween effort, promo copies of the album are in an edited form only which makes it a bit of a bitch to review. Anyway, reviewers gripe over, there's certainly enough here for me to tell you that 'Black Sun' is at the very least the equal of its predecessor, if not superior in some ways. That superiority is arguably down to slightly more variance in the content, although anyone worrying about a sell out can forget those thoughts right now, this is still pulsating, achingly good power metal of the highest order! vIn passing I should perhaps mention that, like so many other albums on the market of late, 'Black Sun' is actually conceptual in nature, a fantasy theme running throughout all thirteen tracks. Don't let this put you off however as each track stands tall on it's own, even when you look at it in isolation. Kicking off with the rather majestic sounding intro 'Countdown To Insanity', Primal Fear launch full tilt into the face melting title track 'Black Sun'. Borne aloft on some sizzling riffs from guitarists Stefan Leibing and Henny Wolter, this is classic Primal Fear doing what they do best. Next up there's the soaring 'Armageddon', another rabid, hook laden monster which harks back to a time when Priest ruled the world - although to be fair, Leibing and Wolter piss all over Downing and Tipton in the guitar hero stakes. And from here on it just gets better and better. 'Lightyears From Home' leans more towards the neo-classically tinged style of Gamma Ray, as do the bombastic chops on the exquisite 'Mind Control'; there's the ominous intensity of the at times quite haunting 'Silence', a track which sees vocalist Ralf Scheepers prove he's far more than a high octane screamer; and then there's the brooding atmospherics of 'Magic Eye', arguably one of the most memorable and melodic tracks the band have ever penned. As for the rest, all I'll say is that the likes of 'Revolution', 'Cold Day In Hell' and 'Mind Machine' have all the hallmarks of modern day classics. Yet another fantastic effort from this most remarkable of bands, 'Black Sun' epitomises everything that is great about the power metal scene, capturing all that energy and vitality and condensing it into one amazing package - absolutely essential! 9.5/10 Dave Cockett