Band:	Primal Fear
Album:	Metal Commando
Style:	Power metal
Release date:	July 2020

Disc I
01. I Am Alive
02. Along Came The Devil
03. Halo
04. Hear Me Calling
05. The Lost & The Forgotten
06. My Name Is Fear
07. I Will Be Gone
08. Raise Your Fists
09. Howl Of The Banshee
10. Afterlife
11. Infinity

Disc II [Digipak bonus]
01. Rising Fear
02. Leave Me Alone
03. Second To None
04. Crucify Me

Back during Primal Fear's very first U.S. tour, someone gave the band the nickname 'German Metal Commando'. According to mastermind, bassist, and producer Mat Sinner, this is why the title of their latest album, Metal Commando, was chosen. Yes, it is not the most ingenious title, and the same goes for their lyrics. But does anyone really listen to Primal Fear to get into a pensive mood?

Consistency is the first word that comes to my mind with Primal Fear; consistency in style, consistency in songwriting, consistency in quality of output (always above average), and consistency even in how long we normally have to wait between album releases. With Primal Fear, there are no real surprises, you know beforehand what you're in for; fist-pumping anthems, riffs for headbanging, and a heavy/power, melodic mix of Judas Priest, Helloween, and Accept.

Metal Commando is no different and I believe anyone liking this band must be satisfied with the result, to say the least. The album is bookended by its best tracks and this is a clever move because it gets you horny excited from the very beginning and also leaves a very positive taste after it's finished. "I Am Alive" is a super-powerful opener, of the Painkiller kind, full of hooks, soaring melodies, and huge riffage. At the other end, the closer "Infinity" boasts a stunning main melody, a chorus that sticks in your mind instantly, and great solos at its middle and end parts. Taking up about a quarter of the entire album's duration, it feels a bit stretched and it probably didn't need all of its 13+ minutes to get the point across, but that doesn't take away much from its overall appeal.

As far as the rest of Metal Commando is concerned, it leans on the heavier side of Primal Fear's spectrum, which is something that I personally prefer. You get some head-bopping, mid-tempo metal on "Along Came The Devil", familiar Helloween vibes on "Halo", a great chorus to sing along to on "Hear Me Calling" and some really weighty groove on "The Lost & The Forgotten". On vinyl B (yes, it's a double vinyl), "Raise Your Fists" is pretty self-explanatory, and "Afterlife" is a strong penultimate track with cool guitar work and it nicely leads in to "Infinity". Quite frankly, all songs on this record constitute an adequately hungry metal exhibition with the exception of the completely skippable ballad, "I Will Be Gone", which really has no place here. As a result, I have been enjoying this record immensely and have actually been playing it a lot more than I expected I would.

To this day, I'm still baffled at the fact that, even though he auditioned for it, Ralf Scheepers - who is brilliant on yet another Primal Fear album - didn't get the Judas Priest job when Rob Halford left. I am quite happy it happened though, because when JP eventually retire, we will still have Primal Fear to fall back on. Not the same, of course, but definitely the next best thing.

"Raise your fists
Break these chains
Raise your fists
Out in the streets"