PRIMAL FEAR: "Unbreakable"

Rating: 6/10

Label: Frontiers 2012

Review by: Urban "Wally" Wallstrom

Screaming guitars, soaring vocals, pumping bass, pounding drums - it's the sound of metal. Back to basics, back to the roots, back to the denim and leather culture of the eighties... and you'll quickly find yourself infront of the mirror posing along to the metal melodies? Well, it's a quite straightforward and simple formula where the ingredients are few and essential. One: get your hairdo and gear in order. Two: start headbanging.

Indeed, it's hardly rocket science and 'Unbreakable' feature lyric that goes and I quote, "Bang your head and never turn it down. Bang your head, bad guys wear black", end quote. Shakespearean to the rescue. Heavy Metal: supposedly manufactured to target the most primal and primitive part of your brain? Certainly not meant to please the thinking person in the first place?? The stereotypes are literally flying across the room as I type down the words. Are we getting younger by the minute, the work of a chimpanzee?

I absolutely adore "New Religion" (9/10 rating), disliked "16:6" (5/10 rating), and I can't say that I'm all too impressed by "Unbrekable". Don't get me wrong, eighties Judas Priest and Accept albums are bloody essential albums in my metal record collection. Crank up the volume even further while listening to "Restless and Wild" or "Defenders of The Faith", the remedy to any bad hair day. The songwriting team of Mat Sinner, Mats Karlsson, Ralf Scheepers, are trying to evoke those feelings and the result is okay even though it will hardly fulfil your metal dreams.

"Metal Nation" is a proper metal anthem (fist in the air style). "Where Angels Die" is the trademark of Karlsson and overall a more melodic approach. The title track feature soaring vocals by Scheepers and it's Euro-Metal at its most Germanic shape and colour. Final verdict: sadly lacking in the song department and the lyrics are extremely dull. In fact, hand me the melodies in advance next time and I'll come up with more intriguing stories under a minute. Nontheless, the primitive part of your brain can't resist headbanging along to several of the tracks and it's a decent effort without a single surprise.

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