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Primal Fear > Delivering the Black > Reviews
Primal Fear - Delivering the Black

Delivering December Souls - 90%

Demon Fang, March 23rd, 2020
Written based on this version: 2014, CD + DVD, Frontiers Records (Digipak, Limited edition)

Primal Fear was on a roll during the early 2000s, peaking at the excellent Devil’s Ground. Channelling Painkiller through a German power metal lens, they’d made some ridiculously fun and oftentimes catchy power metal. They hit a slump during the latter half of the 2000s with less and less of the good stuff, churning out... acceptable quality albums, I guess. 2012’s Unbreakable got them back in the right direction, but it’s their 2014 effort, Delivering the Black, that got them skyrocketing back to where they were ten years prior. The songs here are chock full of mid-paced hard hitters, speed metal mayhem and – best of all – highly melodic compositions that make each song crazy memorable. You’re goddamn fucking right Primal Fear were back in their element with this one!

For instance, let’s look at “King for a Day”. It’s a nice, speedy number to get the album going with thumping beats perfectly accentuating the riffs, topped off with a thunderous performance courtesy of one Ralf Scheepers. The constant double bass, the medium-fast riffing, Ralf’s banshee wails, the soloing at the end (prefaced by a short break where they slow it down a bit) – it all comes together to create an energetic opener to really capture the attention of not just yourself, but everybody around you! Coupled with Ralf’s striking vocal melodies, “King for a Day” comes out swinging with a strong melodic edge that just does not let up!

This sums up a good chunk of the album – “Rebel Faction” picks up the pace with faster riffs, “Alive and On Fire” is a mid-paced thumper and “Never Pray for Justice”’s intro and chorus are a lead frenzy. But, for the most part, Delivering the Black throws you a series of good old-fashioned ass kicking anthemic power joints. These are songs that all but command respect! The riffs drive the songs on in a hard and heavy fashion (in the German power metal sense, of course), the drums keep things lively on the percussive end, Ralf’s belting out one hell of a performance – it’s as if they’re all living the chorus of “Never Pray for Justice”!

Breakout – let ‘em shout
We are here tonight
And it’s our fight
Breakout – let ‘em shout
We own the night


What really elevates this album are the two longer songs, “When Death Comes Knocking” and especially “One Night in December”. Now, the former works on the same sort of principle as the other songs in that it’s a song with the sole intent to be as hummable and singalong as possible. It works because it slows things down and understands that it’s a marathon and not a sprint. But the latter – this is where things get interesting. While it’s still about driving those riffs home, it really understands that it has to be consistently entertaining for all of nine minutes. This, it fucking nails! The riffs come in at just the right time to drive the song. The keyboards provide the kind of ambience that gives the song some real scale with some synths during the verses and the choir sound during the choruses expertly backing up Ralf’s vocals. Said vocals alternate between differing wailing inflections and Halford-y screams to craft together some seriously soaring vocal melodies, even moreso than usual – even by Ralf standards. The leads create some incredibly catchy melodies. But ultimately, it’s the way that they all come together that winds up making “One Night in December” a legitimately epic song. Absolutely the highlight of the album, no doubt about it!

“Born with a Broken Heart” is the weakest song on here – and of course, it’s a fucking ballad! Primal Fear’s biggest weakness are ballads since Ralf’s Halford-esque shrieks just don’t work with acoustic guitars and power ballads very well. His vocals aren’t quite the “nails on a chalkboard” that they were in the early albums’ ballads, although it’s still quite a contrast that just doesn’t work too great. He’s no Matt Barlow or Hansi Kursch, is what I’m saying. Interesting choice to have Liv Kristine providing backup vocals during the heavier choruses instead of the acoustic verses, I have to say. After the epic “One Night in December” and the lead chainsaw antics of “Never Pray for Justice” (and the outright infectiousness of “Innocent Man” if you’re listening to the deluxe edition), this is a bit of a letdown. Sort of. Although it follows up with the speed metal stylings of “Inseminoid”, this song’s ending works better as an album ending, with some climactic, heartfelt soloing before trailing off with an acoustic riff to end the song with gusto.

This is some tight, high-flying energetic shit right here! Delivering the Black perfectly picks up from and even improves on the fun, soaring formula that Primal Fear had put together and nailed in the early 2000s with Nuclear Fire, Black Sun and Devil’s Ground.

Delivering the goods - 91%

gasmask_colostomy, November 25th, 2016

Primal Fear are a bunch of Germans who like heavy metal and birds of prey and have stuck with those things very faithfully since day one. That may sound fairly uncomplicated and cliched, but Delivering the Black is a glorious celebration of effective simplicity and a victory of heart over brains. There have been those who have pointed to some fairly obvious influences and accused Primal Fear of following the likes of Judas Priest, Grave Digger, and Gamma Ray, all of whom are linked to some extent by bandmembers and nationality. It's very true that there hasn't been a great deal of cutting-edge output from the band, yet their metal has usually been true, powerful, and good fun.

Delivering the Black is one of those albums that you may well write off on first listen as merely competent and average, but the songs contained herein have the hooks and balls to worm their way under your skin and will continue to grow until you can remember almost every word and every riff. That's not to say that the album is a "grower": there's nothing quite so complex to need intense concentration to understand, it's more that the songwriting and ideas would not appear to be anything special at first glance, yet everything is constructed and developed in such a way that it becomes really impossible not to love almost everything about Delivering the Black. There is an instinctive appeal to the quick but gruff riffing of the speedy numbers like 'King for a Day' and 'Road to Asylum', while the hooks and choruses of mid-paced epic 'When Death Comes Knocking' is a total treat.

The general sound of the album is calculated rather more towards the speed and heavy than the power in the heavy/speed/power triangle, with few smooth melodies, few clattering Helloween drum patterns, and not much in the way of vocal cheesiness. One element that pulls it away from power metal is the crunching guitar tone, which is tough and overdriven, while the drums are also meaty and modern rather than fleet of foot, so that when the band takes off together they sound more like a rhinoceros crashing through the trees than a horse galloping down the meadow. Likewise the vocals, since Ralf Scheepers and Mat Sinner combine their talents to produce both soaring note-oriented classicism and gruff modern bite respectively. Sinner sometimes sounds a bit forced, as on 'Born with a Broken Heart', where he strains into an exaggerated American accent, but maybe I'm just against that because I'm a Brit. For a band so rich in guitarists (currently three in the line-up, though just two credited for this album), there is the expected focus on riffs, some nice melodies, and also a few solos that are worth waiting for, particularly in 'Rebel Faction'.

However, it's the organization of both individual songs and the album as a whole that brings Delivering the Black up to the next level. Primal Fear have usually been able to keep their songs short enough to give each a greater impact than your average power or speed metal band, rarely topping five minutes for the faster numbers. This focus makes those songs that much more exciting, since there is nothing unnecessary to bog them down or allow the intensity to drop. In this style, 'Rebel Faction' probably takes it in the speed stakes, 'King for a Day' has a bridge riff that would trouble any neck not disconnected from a pair of ears, and the title track has an irresistible chorus that will see you shouting out "We run - with the devil / We run - the next level" and shrieking out the title without questioning what it means. 'Alive and on Fire' and 'Never Pray for Justice' lean more towards the heavy metal/hard rock end of things, strutting at a more measured pace and - although the latter proves slightly weak - both complement the mix of styles well.

The other side to the concise heavy tracks is that the more explorative 'When Death Comes Knocking' and 'One Night in December' are welcome to stretch out to 7 or even 9 minutes without bothering the listener's patience, since one is only required to make such an effort once or twice. Added to that, both start quietly, which had me fearing I was in for a long dull ballad, but then they hot up nicely after a verse or two, the former packing a cracking chorus riff and the latter including instrumental sections from guitar and orchestral instruments. The only true ballad is saved almost until the end and indulged in to the full, with acoustic picking, female backing vocals, and a chorus right from the climax of a movie, though is followed up by the vigorous power metal of 'Inseminoid' to satisfy the craving for heaviness.

With Delivering the Black, Primal Fear prove that sometimes doing the basics well is all it takes to make a great album, since there is no question of anything like progress but also little doubt that any fan of classic metal styles will find joy in these 10 songs. In short, this album makes me happy. However, I'm still not sure what the title means...

It Delivers, All Right - 90%

Chernobog, February 12th, 2015

In the world of power metal, there basically exists two camps: there are those who stick to the basic speed metal formula laid down in the 80s by bands such as Judas Priest and Helloween, and then there are those who take that formula and go even further over the top, with an increased emphasis on symphonic passages. Primal Fear belongs to the former camp, and while their latest album "Delivering The Black" doesn't really change that, Primal Fear set about doing something rather impressive and honorable for a band that plays in their style. Here, they manage to strike a fair balance between their conservative speed metal tendencies and the epic overtones of modern power metal, all the while resisting the urge to be dragged down by one side or the other.

Anyone familiar with Primal Fear's work, or with any number of similar bands, will know what to expect here: The songs are usually (though not exclusively) up tempo, with an emphasis on occasionally harmonized guitar leads and soaring vocals by Ralph Sheepers set to powerful melodies. However, there are other elements at play here which prevent this from being any other speed metal work, and that is the way the band incorporate symphonic influences, albeit in a subtle, non-overbearing way. The two best examples of this would be "When Death Comes Knocking" and "One Night in December". The former is a fairly multi-layered composition, opening with a clean guitar section before going right for the balls with a powerful riff. The symphonic elements are tucked quietly behind the guitars, before peaking with a middle eastern sounding section in the middle of the song, complete with the traditional instruments of the region. "One Night In December" opens with a piano section over music that could easily be apart of a movie soundtrack, leading right into the expected harmonized leads. During the verse section, the stringed instruments keep doing what they do, and at one point the guitars join them, giving an added edge to an otherwise symphonic sound. After the song peaks with the expectedly excellent lead work, the somber sounds of a piano and church bell at the end helps us to drift away from the epicness that we have just been bludgeoned with. In case you couldn't tell by my detailed description of this particular track, I consider this to be one of the best on the album.

However, there is plenty on the album for the speed metal traditionalist, and in fact, that is what makes up the bulk of this album. While there is no bad song on this album, there are those that will immediately grab your attention and stick with you. Songs like "King for a Day" and the title track will immediately have you head banging the moment they come on, and Ralph Sheepers reminds you of why he almost became Judas Priest's new singer with his powerful range. "Rebel Faction", with it's Hans Zimmer-esque opening is the first foray into the subtle symphonic elements that Primal Fear utilize on this album, although most of the song is steeped in pure speed metal territory, as is the high octane closer "Inseminoid", with their amazing opening harmonized leads, courtesy of Magnus Karlsson and Alex Beyrodt. Finally, there is "Alive and On Fire", which calls to mind the best of the 80s mid tempo metal anthems, with powerful drum work and no end of great hooks from both the guitar and vocal departments. Of course, those are only my personal highlights, and as previously mentioned, anyone looking through the tracks will find almost nothing objectionable, unless this is not their preferred style of metal.

Primal Fear doesn't do anything that new here, nor do they need to. They've been perfecting this sound since their inception in the late 90s, and as far as I'm concerned, it's a sound I can get used to hearing over and over again, so long as the passion behind the music remains evident. By teasing their otherwise straight forward formula with the occasional symphonic and progressive elements, Primal Fear's "Delivering the Black" avoids sounding one dimensional, while at the same time resists the urge to go full on modern power metal and potentially screw up a solid sound. If you're already a fan of Primal Fear, you have no doubt heard this album already or know what to expect. But for any speed or power metal fan unfamiliar with Primal Fear's work, "Delivering the Black" is highly recommended for you.

One of their best. - 85%

sadun_tryst, February 15th, 2014

Ralf Scheepers and co. have brought us another Primal Fear release, Delivering The Black, only two years after pretty good Unbreakable. So, can they deliver once more or is this album just another generic power metal release like their previous few records (don’t shoot me please)?

First of all, Ralf sounds awesome here. I always liked his voice and I find him at least equal to Kai in Gamma Ray or Halford in Judas Priest, and his solo effort from couple of years back brought us some kick-ass performances from him. So, if you like his voice too, Delivering The Black will be pretty generous for your ears. So let’s get going with review, shall we?

Delivering The Black is damn fine example of German power metal; fast, heavy, melodic and catchy, all at the same time. Power metal stompers that will make your head swing back and forth are interlaced with few slower, mid-tempo tracks to break the routine, an example of that would be “When Death Comes Knocking“, slower groovy track with heavy riffs that serves as an absorbant between neck breaking tracks as we are used to expect from Primal Fear.

And this is the main concern regarding this record – it doesn’t bring anything new to their sound. Sure, you could say that if it’s working don’t fucking try to fix it, and in one way you would be correct. On the other hand a bit of novelty would be nice. Fortunately, Delivering The Black avoids many pitfalls of power metal albums, one of them being unnecessary need to put 15 damn tracks on one record. 10 tracks is fine (not counting bonuses), round number and with it, album is on the edge of being bloated. This way, one can really enjoy it without feeling the need to skip tracks, mostly because of well placed slower, easier tracks mentioned before, while “easier” here doesn’t mean “sleazy heartbreaking ballads“. Just, a bit more relaxed songs with some melodic keyboard parts and stuff like that, combined with a bit repetitive lyrics and maybe few minutes of length too much. To be fair, I can live with that, because sick guitar solos are making up for it.

Band members are showing from first note that they mean business, starting from heavy hitting “King For A Day” and “Rebel Faction” all the way to hard-rocking “Alive & On Fire” and title track, Primal Fear refuses to slow down, and – not to diminish other members’ contribution – Ralf is main star here, without any doubt. Songs above, melodic chorus in “Road To Asylum“, a bit cheesy “Born With A Broken Heart“, name whatever song you want, dude is on top of his game.

I see a lot of divided opinions across the web, not only for Delivering The Black but for pretty much every record Primal Fear has ever released. Personally, Seven Seals is still my favorite Primal Fear album, don’t know will you agree with me there. Unbreakable was good, but few before that were pretty bland and shallow. So, if you share similar thoughts then believe me you will enjoy Delivering The Black. If not, then, well, wait for new Gamma Ray record or for Rob Halford to get younger. For now, Primal Fear is as good as power metal can be in 2014.

Originally written by me for Worldwide Metal

Delivering the win - 86%

Andromeda_Unchained, February 8th, 2014

So the last Primal Fear album was a completely welcome return to form; I’ve lost count of how many times I fist-pumped and head-banged away to it. As such, expectations were totally high for the next album, and much like Unbreakable the pre-release song kicked my expectations in the balls. I don’t know what it is, but just like “Bad Guys Wear Black” did; “When Death Comes Knocking” left me dubious at first, but in context of the album totally works. Stop doing this to me Ralf!

Whilst I’m hearing a lot of “best album since Seven Seals” or “best album since Black Sun” and all that crap; I’m going to say… Best album since the last one! Honestly though, Delivering The Black fucking rules. Since I first heard it, it’s been my go to album after having to review dross. I listen to a crap album, then I put Primal Fear on, and my life is instantly better. Seriously, this is just so much fun. It’s like the perfect blend of their Judas Priest worship, and their “we’re not ripping on Priest anymore, we swear” power metal a là Seven Seals; and man, it’s one hell of a tasty blend.

Since recruiting Magnus Karlsson and Alex Beyrodt the Germans have been on fire (alive and on fire? Ho ho ho), certainly the best guitar duo the band have had since Henny Wolter and Stefan Leibing. What I really appreciate, though, is that these guys don’t force any of the AOR elements they do in their other projects into Primal Fear; keep the metal where it belongs fellers. Regardless, these guys shred and riff like they mean it throughout, and have crafted some of the finest Primal Fear riffs to date. The real star of the show is Ralf Scheepers, though. I mean come on; does this guy get better with age or what? There’s definitely less emphasis on his shattering high notes, as is common with his recent performances, which is a good thing as he’s a really good singer. Either way he completely rules the album, and just about every track could be singled out as a best performance number.

The mix of blazing Painkiller style numbers, epic power metal romps, and mid-paced, only heavy metal is real type tunes is fantastic. The whole band are absolutely on the money, from the aforementioned riff porn, and Ralf’s immense vocals, all the way to Mat Sinners thundering bass lines, and Randy Black’s wild drum battery. There’s just nothing to complain about, even the ballad is enjoyable (fortunately there’s only the one). When they aim big with “One Night In December” they completely nail it, with the end result being their finest longer number to date. So many standout tracks, man; from the pummelling Priest worship in “King For A Day” to the soaring power metal delivered in “Road To Asylum” as well as everything in, around, and between.

With plenty of variation and excitement Delivering The Black stands as an early highlight in 2014, and the more I listen, the more I find myself enamoured. This is killer German heavy/power metal, and if you have any interest in the style you really can’t go wrong with this album. There’s little left to say, another winner from Primal Fear.

Attention! Your black has been delivered! - 93%

hells_unicorn, February 3rd, 2014

Sometimes truly appreciating an album is being able to get past the obvious and over-analyze what it is that is being heard. One could go on and on about how a longstanding band has seen little stylistic evolution, particularly if the band in question has a very distinct niche that includes a sub-style that has been in existence for well over 20 years. Primal Fear often get pegged with the limited evolution cliche, as if this needed to be pointed out to anyone with even the slightest familiarity with bands like Iron Savior, Grave Digger and Paragon, all of which are stylistically quite similar to this peculiar German speed/power institution and have enjoyed a similarly limited stylistic evolution. Then again, when compared with those 3 particular outfits, Primal Fear has actually made a few evolutionary strides that account for the actually quite different character of Delivering The Black when compared to their earliest works.

Excluding first-time hearers of this band or any other project associated with Ralf Scheepers, all will hear the usual obligatory stylistic trappings of Primal Fear's work after things started to take a slightly experimental tone on Seven Seals on this album, though touched up with a pretty enticing helping of works that hearken back to their more widely lauded early era. The intensity factor sees a major boost thanks to the inclusion of some riveting speed numbers like "Rebel Faction" and "Road To Asylum", and is further complimented by a guitar sound that's a bit more punchy and a drum sound that's a bit more compressed than the last 2 albums. All the same, Scheepers tends to rule the musical fray with his high-pitched blend of Halford and Conklin wails, yet manages to turn out a somewhat heartfelt croon from time to time.

The complaints that tend to come in with the newer Primal Fear offerings, namely the introduction of symphonic, industrial and ballad elements (though they are fairly small in scope compared to the meat and potatoes of their sound, which is ruggedly centered in Judas Priest and Accept territory) will naturally not be diminished when considering some of the more auspicious songs to be found on here. A pretty strong nod to the much abused experimentation on New Religion makes a clear showing on the ballad "Born With A Broken Heart", which brings Liv Kristine in to the mix for a guest slot, though in a less pronounced fashion than was the case with Simone Simmons 7 years ago. Likewise, one can't help but hear a similar vibe from the epic and spellbinding "One Night In December" with that of "Fighting The Darkness", though this long-winded semi-symphonic anthem is a bit more animated and features a wild, Malmsteen-like guitar display out of Magnus Karlsson, another important figure whose presence has definitely served in further evolving Primal Fear's sound both in the technical and atmospheric department.

But all things considered, this album isn't a full out affirmation of the experimental road that has characterized much of this band's post-Nuclear Blast material. Indeed, apart from the intoxicating epic experience that is "One Night In December", the strong points of this album definitely reach back to earlier influences. One of the truly powerful examples of this conservative approach is actually an all but full out throwback to the Herman Frank days of Accept that is "When Death Comes Knocking", which trudges along at mid-tempo yet has a perfect mix of hooks and progression to keep the listener full enthralled for its seven minute duration. Similarly, the album's closing song "Inseminoid" turns on the afterburners something fierce and listens like a faster and more triumphant sequel to the title track off of Nuclear Fire, complete with another mad solo fest to rival Malmsteen out of Karlsson.

While some may continue to cleave to the idea that a band needs to either rewrite their first 3 albums over and over to stay on top of things or continually create a new sub-genre with each subsequent LP, for the rest of the music word with a taste for metal both new and old, this my prove to be one of this best albums to come out of 2014, in the first month of the year no less. The riff work sees a particularly needed uptick (the one area where Magnus Karlsson has been hit or miss) and sees a strong degree of depth. It still has a healthy dose of Painkiller, as is to be expected, but what it boasts in punishing fury it also tempers with a level of relaxed contrast that keeps it from being one-dimensional. It's ridden with cliches, yet doesn't turn out as one when all the parts are fit together. But most important of all, it delivers, above and beyond the call of duty.