Primal Fear - New Religion

After six studio full lengths on Nuclear Blast Records, Primal Fear find themselves on a new home, Frontiers Records. An interesting situation- being freed from Nuclear Blast leads me to believe there has been disappointment in the album sales or maybe bassist's Mat Sinner's leaving of his Nuclear Blast job, and as for signing with Frontiers Records- this A.O.R. label seems like an odd choice for a straight forward Judas Priest like metal band. For the first time since 2002's Black Sun, there's a line-up change in the Primal Fear camp as guitarist Stefan Leibing steps in to replace Tom Naumann. The only original members are vocalist Ralf Scheepers (ex-Gamma Ray, ex-Tyran Pace) and bassist Mat Sinner (Sinner, Goddess Shiva).

So, does a new guitarist and a new label change Primal Fear's sound? Not really. Opening with the heavy (but not very catchy) "Sign of Fear" sets any (pardon the pun) fear aside. Where "Sign of Fear" had the metal but not the memorable hooks, the second track ("Face the Emptiness") contains the opposite. Epica's Simone Simons guests on the choruse oriented/ electronic sounding "Everytime It Rains." It's a new element to the Primal Fear formula, but not too surprising. As the fan feels Primal Fear's core drifting away on that song, they get it back on the typical sounding "New Religion." Primal Fear enter power ballad territory on "Fighting the Darkness," a song with an interesting symphonic mid section. The best song on New Religion is "Blood on Your Hands," a solid combination of melodic vocals and heavy riffs. "The Curse of Sharon" bored me but the fast and heavy "Too Much Time" has a riff stolen right from Slayer's "Behind the Crooked Cross." Keeping the heaviness going on the stomping "Psycho" and these songs will keep metal fans sated before the catchy "World on Fire" and power ballad "The Man" closes New Religion.

New Religion is not Primal Fear's best album, but it's another impressive effort. It's clear that they are furthering themselves from the Judas Priest sound of their early albums but still they are aware of what their fans expect.