tonight, I had the great honour to be offered a private listening session of "Black Sun" by my friend Ralf Scheepers
it was a great honour for me and although I did not get to listen to the whole album, I have heard enough to be able to write a review of it...
what can I say?
It's ..cosmic...This album places itself as a step farther on the Primal Fear road, and it's just the product of a gradual evolution in a direction that can only be guessed...
Black Sun hits the listener with a sound that is in all ways superior to anything I have ever listened before- not only productionwise but in its conception itself- the music of the spheres in metal!!
I have to say that this is not my first encounter with the Black sun, but it is the first time I listened to the final result, and it is anything I have expected it to be and a lot more...
Where should I start- there are so many things that need to be said here...I would have to start with the great and tight overall concept of "Black Sun". There have been many attempts of making a strong metal concept album in the past, and most of them - I will not give names there- ended up as more or less pathetic attempts... but not this one!!!!!The great science fiction story of the steel eagles looking for the Black Sun is sustained by a musical line that amplifies the cosmic feeling of the listener in ways never heard by the metal maniacs before...The guitar duo sounds like a powerful machine- there has never been such an incredible display of power and the overall impression is that the same person plays both guitars at the same time!!!!!The team made by Stefan and Henny is made of that material and more- they have a secret chemistry together that missed on the metal stage for a long time now,it's probably safe to say that PF has 2 lead guitarists...and if Henny's solos are the portal to another dimension- there is the shredding that Stefan does, together with the bassline from hell-the Mat Sinner trademark in all its glory that lays it all down for Ralf's singing to kick in.
The vocals of Ralf are here making a step farther and he sure delivers the best lines he ever pitched , but this time things are different and no longer will be said about Ralf Scheepers that he is just copying Rob Halford's style- not that it would be anything wrong with that.This album is also Ralf's statement, he proved to the world that he is one of the great singers in metal and that he has a brilliant unique style of himself !!
And what should I say about Mat Sinner delivering some vocals of his own on "Mind Machine"??Mat has never in his entire career sounded that good and he lives up to the task of splitting singing with Ralf in the most honourable manner- which can only make one look forward even more anxiously to the upcoming Sinner album...Mat Sinner is like good wine- he gets better by the years:-))
At this point I have to mention something: this album is NOT sounding like any of the previous ones
it's in fact the product of all that PF means to us, of all they have achieved in the years since they are together- Black Sun is the summum of all that these guys have been thru - they have grown up together into one of the strongest metal teams ever and it's everything there, written in every note , every riff, every scream...
it's everything there, from the glorious Chainbreaker riffs to the force of Nuclear Fire- it's all there, the albums, the concerts, the fans, the Primal fear fans are there as well, we are all embarked on this magical journey in search of the Black sun........
the road stretches farther for Primal Fear, and they are entering the new millenium as a metal force no one can ignore,
PRIMAL FEAR ARE
LIVING FOR METAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
