Band:	Primal Fear
Album:	Delivering The Black
Style:	Power metal
Release date:	January 24, 2014
A review by:	D.T. Metal

01. King For A Day
02. Rebel Faction
03. When Death Comes Knocking
04. Alive & On Fire
05. Delivering The Black
06. Road To Asylum
07. One Night In December
08. Never Pray For Justice
09. Born With A Broken Heart [Feat. Liv Kristine]
10. Innocent Man [deluxe edition bonus]
11. Inseminoid
12. Man Without Shadow [deluxe edition bonus]
13. When Death Comes Knocking [single edit version] [deluxe edition bonus]

Primal Fear, around since 1997, and with the release of Delivering The Black they are about to drop their tenth studio album onto mankind. This begs the question whether the world really needs another Primal Fear album? The answer is sweet and simple; YES!

If you thought their 2012's Unbreakable album was the cream of the crop you will be amazed by Primal Fear's new long player. It is a, in your face, take no prisoners, shut up and take my money kind of opus. With Delivering The Black the band definitely dialed it up to eleven. (Spinal Tap anyone? )

Starting off with the up-tempo piece "King For A Day" you get riffage up the wazoo and Primal Fear sets the standard very high right off the bat. But can they keep it up? Yes Sir, and then some. Throughout the entire album it's obvious that Scheppers & Co had the mindset of "go big or go home" and they did an awesome job of keeping the listener excited with the arrangements on Delivering The Black. Naturally, while some songs are stronger than others, the overall vibe remains the same: metal at its finest, and I truly believe there is not one filler track on the album.

Primal Fear added some nice, and sometimes unexpected, touches to the songs. For instance, the dramatic and bombastic intro to "Rebel Faction" hints to a mellower piece but instead it turns out to be the most aggressive song on the album and grabs you by the balls with its fast double bass action and speed metal riffing.

Why Primal Fear chose to release "When Death Comes Knocking" as the first single is beyond me since, let's face it, singles released these days really do not disclose the albums full potential. While the song is not bad and it actually did grow on me the second time around, I just can't shake thinking about Gamma Ray while listening to it. The oriental sounding bridge is a nice touch though.

Albeit Judas Priest decided to go with "Ripper" Owens after Rob Halford left, it is clear why Ralf Scheppers was on the shortlist of vocalists to replace the Metal God. During the entire album, Ralf's vocals are spot on and on "Alive & On Fire" he not only shines but also proves that, other than the high pitched vocals, he is also very confident with a deeper and aggressive styles of singing. Seriously, this song could be on any (newer) Judas Priest album; not just because of the vocals, but also because of the swaying guitars.

Not nearly enough can be said about the axe slinging of Alex and Magnus. Be it the aforementioned dual harmonics, the "Zakk Wylde" squealing, the solos, the rhythm sections, the chugging - in short, a delight for any metal fan's ear. Mat Sinner on his 4-string provides the necessary heaviness to all the songs and Randy Black is flat out "the man" behind the kit. I think his drumming on Delivering The Black is his best work yet.

Primal Fear always had at least one über-long song on their albums, but with "One Night In December" they went above and beyond the call of duty. Clocking in just under ten minutes this song - so atmospheric and mind blowing, could be a part of any Trans-Siberian Orchestra's set list.

Like I already mentioned, there is not one filler track on the entire album and while I am not necessarily a fan of ballads, with "Born With A Broken Heart" Primal Fear did a great job of slowing down this, otherwise very intense, album. Leaves' Eyes Liv provided the guest vocals, but instead of featuring her in a full-fledged duet with Ralf, they opted to just have her provide the backing vocals on the chorus. This sounds really good and a female voice gives the song more feeling for sure.

Besides the pounding, heavy, fast and furious "Road To Asylum", "Never Pray For Justice" is, hands down, my favorite song on the album; such a fun, sing-along and happy go lucky piece. Primal Fear came to rock and they owned the night. Leading off with a subtle Jackyl reference made my day to say the least. (check the chainsaw solo on Jackyl's "Lumberjack")

I believe with Delivering The Black Primal Fear delivered their strongest album thus far and hopefully it will get the recognition it deserves.