Primal Fear Domination Review
Primal Fear
Domination
RPM Music
2025
There is no stopping Germany’s Primal Fear They've been going strong since 1997, waving the flag for anthemic and epic true metal, that borders on the power side. There have been triumphs, twin guitar leads and tragedies along the way, (bassist/vocalist Matt Sinner nearly died from a year long illness before completing 2023’s “Code Red”) so they are certainly no strangers to adversity. 2025 sees this denim and leather troupe of heathens return with the thirteen song Domination, and the title is very accurate.
Sinner is at the helm of producer again along with vocalist Ralph Scheepers and Magnus Karlsson acting as co-producers. Recording took place in 2024 at Dennis Ward’s Kangaroo Studios and mixing/mastering was handled by longtime cohort Jacob Hansen at his personal studio in Denmark. The result is a heavy modern production that favors live organic sounds and the band's trademark speedy gallop, thunder God double bass, neo classical leads, harmonized guitars and the soaring vocals that have become their trademarks. Speaking of the vocals, Scheepers has never sounded better here, and that is no easy feat considering they are nearly 30 years into their career. I’d be remiss if I didn't mention the excellent guitar work of the aforementioned Karlsson and Thalia Bellazecca. They play off one another effortlessly and can both burn up the fretboards.
Musically, this is what we have come to expect from Primal Fear, in that it is traditional power metal of the European variety that echoes the bloodline of Iron Maiden and fellow countrymen Accept, Gamma Ray and Helloween, but that is never a bad thing. These vets put their own unique spin on those sounds throughout the record, the constant is exceptional, skilled, memorable and catchy songs. Opener “The Hunter” kicks things off with a hard-hitting pace and plenty of sing along fanfare. Mid-tempo grinder (see what I did there?) “Tears of Fire” is definitively anthemic and they even throw in an instrumental replete with guitar soloing and synths in “Hallucinations”. Primal Fear are just a touch heavier than their contemporaries and the songs here reflect that, especially the thrashy and uplifting jaunt of “Heroes and Gods”. “Scream” is a plodding, somewhat down tuned chugger that has a mid-break that will melt faces and cause spinal damage. From there we go into another mid-tempo crusher “The Dead Don't Die” with you guessed it, a chorus that will stick in your head for days. The hooks throughout this record just refuse to let go of you, and I’m absolutely ok with that. “Crossfire” follows that up with breakneck speed metal and the reflective piano and strings of album closer “A Tune I Won't Forget” ends things on a bit of a melancholy, yet still memorable note.
Power metal is arguably a genre that MANY think only has a few noteworthy acts, maybe even a couple handfuls, (this is not even close to being true btw) but Primal Fear once again proves they belong in the scene’s upper echelon, and they sound positively reinvigorated with Domination. Their press release states, “PRIMAL FEAR aren’t here to reclaim the crown - they’re here to prove they’ve never left the throne of heavy/power metal royalty.” To that I say, hail to the king’s baby!
~TB