{"id":72339,"date":"2018-08-10T00:00:57","date_gmt":"2018-08-10T00:00:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/?p=72339"},"modified":"2018-09-05T06:09:41","modified_gmt":"2018-09-05T06:09:41","slug":"feature-primal-fear-08-18","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/feature-primal-fear-08-18\/","title":{"rendered":"PRIMAL FEAR – Hail To The Fear (August 2018) | Features \/ Interviews @ Metal Forces Magazine"},"content":{"rendered":"

PRIMAL FEAR – Hail To The Fear<\/strong><\/span>
\nAnthony Morgan<\/span>
\nAugust 2018<\/span><\/p>\n

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Primal Fear (l-r): Tom Naumann, Alex Beyrodt, Mat Sinner, Ralf Scheepers, Francesco Jovino and Magnus Karlsson<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
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\nGerman power metal outfit Primal Fear developed a fresh strategy with respect to January 2016 full-length Rulebreaker<\/em>, past albums having been somewhat different in terms of the recording process. Past albums were recorded in a slightly different manner, with different studios and different engineers being utilised. That fresh strategy was implemented once again with August 2018 affair Apocalypse<\/em>, Primal Fear\u2019s 12th studio jaunt.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were very happy with how we created Rulebreaker<\/em>, we were very happy with the whole progress and the whole strategy, and so we kept it on the new album,\u201d emphasizes Mat Sinner, bassist of Primal Fear. \u201cIt was also a process of finding the right way for us to do it, at that time. We just have different songs, different melodies, different guitar lines, different riffs, and a little bit of other things here and there, and a little bit of a different attitude. We were very happy with Rulebreaker<\/em>, and so there were no super-big changes needed. <\/p>\n

\u201cI think it was the right way to do it. We\u2019re collecting ideas all of the time, over let\u2019s say a period of a year. We sit down, and talk about the ideas and suggestions of the guys. Mostly, it\u2019s me and Magnus Karlsson who are responsible for the 11 songs on the new album; I\u2019m involved in every track, while Magnus Karlsson is involved in 80% of the tracks. Ralf (Scheepers, vocals) added some ideas; Tom (Naumann, guitars) wrote a song together with me and Ralf called \u2018The Ritual\u2019 and Alex (Beyrodt) wrote a song with me and Ralf called \u2018Into The Fire\u2019. Ralf added his melodies and wrote two or three lyrics; if you leave out the bonus tracks, Ralph wrote the lyrics for \u2018New Rise\u2019 and most of \u2018Blood, Sweat & Fear\u2019. The rest of the lyrics were written by me. So, that\u2019s the songwriting \u2013 everybody was involved in the process. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe did a big pre-production, which takes us a long time. We think this is the most important thing to get a view of how the songs will be in their final stages, so we had a long pre-production. From 20 songs, we decided which 14 we wanted to record. Then we went into a recording studio which has a huge drum room in Denmark, and recorded the drums. We recorded the guitars in Sweden and France, and then bass and vocals in Germany. We then went back to Denmark for the mixing and mastering of the album. With breaks, the whole process took around a year.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have a lot of fans around the world who are happy about a new Primal Fear album. We can\u2019t come up with a jazz rock album at the moment. It was clear what kind of music we want to do, and how it should sound. It was really following the path of an album that we were very happy with, and now we have another album that we are very happy with. I don\u2019t know we will do it on the next album, but in this case, this time, we are very happy.\u201d<\/p>\n

A large portion of responsibility lies in the hands of the producer, the producer in question being the rhythmist himself. \u201cAs a producer, I\u2019m responsible for the final product,\u201d he recognises. \u201cI\u2019ve produced this band since the beginning, but the guys trust me, and they also trust my choices. There were some songs where it was clear from the beginning when you we were writing them, that they had to appear on the album. They were of the quality level that we wanted. We really worked on that, and there were some songs that we discussed in a really democratic way, like which ones to choose. We could have recorded 11 songs, but we recorded 14 songs because we wanted to come up with something great for the fans \u2013 some bonus tracks, and stuff. We chose the track listing in a very democratic way.\u201d<\/p>\n

Compositions omitted from a final track listing tend to be simply not up to standard, this perhaps being the case where Apocalypse<\/em> was concerned. \u201cIt was a decision of the moment,\u201d Mat reflects. \u201cWe made decisions, and we have to stick by those decisions. Primal Fear was never a band who picked up an old song for a new album. We always write new songs because with the status of the band, the songs will be different in a year and a half. I think the songs that weren\u2019t used on Apocalypse<\/em> won\u2019t be used in the future.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Mat Sinner<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
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Primal Fear\u2019s individual personnel have known one another in excess of 20 years, the songwriting dynamic arguably strengthening through the years. \u201cWe already know the good things and the bad things of each person,\u201d the four-stringer cites. \u201cIt\u2019s grown like a brotherhood in the last few years, because of the immense touring and the long time on the road together. Everybody knows each other so well, so everybody can come up with some stuff. We discuss it in a very nice way, and also it was the same as the way we recorded this album. It was very creative, and there wasn\u2019t too much talking.\u201d<\/p>\n

The individual traits of Primal Fear\u2019s guitarists are reflected within Apocalypse<\/em>\u2019s musical content. \u201cOn Apocalypse<\/em> the album, it\u2019s very clear to hear that we have three very good guitarists who have a different style and a different sound, a different attitude,\u201d Mat critiques. \u201cAlex Beyrodt is more the blues guitarist; he comes more from blues rock roots. He plays a Stratocaster, if he wants, or he plays a Les Paul if he wants. Magnus Karlsson comes from the prog rock scene; he\u2019s a very technical, fast, precise player with wonderful attitude. <\/p>\n

\u201cTom is the pure rock \u2019n\u2019 roller, which is a very good lead guitarist. He has a great tone, but also super-atomic guitar riffs. He\u2019s more the rock \u2019n\u2019 roll style kind of guy. For me, it\u2019s very nice to work with these guys, because it\u2019s really a great thing to have three different guitarists than just one person having their style. We can come up with some very different sounds, and very different playing. I think it was never as strong as it is on this album.\u201d<\/p>\n

Albeit \u201call new songs\u201d and \u201ca new attitude,\u201d Apocalypse<\/em> is still rooted within Primal Fear\u2019s long-standing musical framework. \u201cIt\u2019s still Primal Fear, and we won\u2019t change our style of metal and the kind of music that we do, because we already do exactly what we love,\u201d the composer enthuses. \u201cI think it\u2019s just traditional heavy metal, with the possibilities to approach modern riffs and a modern style, and also have the freedom to write songs. For example, on the new album there\u2019s \u2018Eye Of The Storm\u2019, which is eight minutes long; it\u2019s very epic, and has a lot of different parts and tempos. It\u2019s really kind of prog rock. <\/p>\n

\u201cI think the basic idea is always some kind of metal, but on a lot of albums, we have songs \u2013 like \u2018Eye Of The Storm\u2019 \u2013 which for us are a musical challenge, in order to keep ourselves busy. I think it\u2019s more difficult to write a song about ten minutes, which is always interesting during the whole song. This is a big challenge for us, and we will keep this challenge. For us, it\u2019s very important that we can do that. It wouldn\u2019t be cool to write an album with ten songs on it which are three minutes, so we have to have that chance to explore other territories in this kind of music, but the basic is always heavy metal. <\/p>\n

\u201cPrimal Fear at its most basic is traditional metal, but we still have the freedom to explore other stuff in metal. I can\u2019t relate Apocalypse<\/em> to any album, because it\u2019s very different.\u201d<\/p>\n

That long-standing musical framework happens to be based on the genre\u2019s forebearers. \u201cI think we grew up with the big bands of classic rock and hard rock, so for us it is still based on what Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin and Deep Purple came up with,\u201d Mat names. \u201cWe came up with that kind of music; we\u2019ve grown up with this kind of music, and now we\u2019re playing this kind of music just a little bit different.\u201d<\/p>\n

Apocalypse<\/em> reflects Primal Fear\u2019s view of the global climate at present and venturing into the future. \u201cThe lyrical content follows the title of the album and the cover artwork for the album,\u201d the lyricist begins. \u201cWe were sitting down and thinking about where we wanted to go with this album, and the situation of the global world, and the new leaders of the big countries. We\u2019re not in the kind of shape where we would like to write 11 love songs because everything is so nice. It\u2019s a kind of warning, if you are responsible enough to write lyrics for people listening across the whole world. Not politics per se, but we can write about stuff that people are thinking about, like what will happen, and just about the current situation of the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

Apocalypse<\/em> is not a concept affair, however. \u201cWe can\u2019t write a concept album if different people are writing lyrics,\u201d Mat reasons. \u201cIf one guy is writing the whole concept, then fine. I\u2019m sharing some lyrics with Ralph though, so the idea of writing a concept album about the breakdown of the whole world would be a bit depressive.\u201d<\/p>\n

Asked to discuss specific examples as it relates to Apocalypse<\/em>\u2019s lyrical meanderings, the performer refuses to be drawn. \u201cIt would be going into the political views of me or the band,\u201d he cautions. \u201cI think people should read the lyrics, and then they can decide if they like it or not. I will not blame political leaders here directly in an interview about our new album. The lyrics just have an approach which shows our view of the current situation, and the view of the future isn\u2019t promising. I absolutely accept if some of our fans have a different view of things, but still like the music (laughs). No problem.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Mat Sinner and Ralf Scheepers<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
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As referenced earlier in the feature, Apocalypse<\/em> was recorded at a number of studios. \u201cWe start the recording with the drums,\u201d Mat tells. \u201cWe went to Denmark, to a studio of Jacob Hansen\u2019s. He has a very, very nice drum room, and we like it. For me as a producer, the drums are the foundation of the whole album; the better the drums are recorded, the better the chance of coming up with a great sound. We recorded the drums. We then went to Sweden and France, and recorded the guitars. We came back to Germany and recorded the bass and vocals, and then went back again to Hansen Studios in Denmark and mixed and mastered the album there. This is our process.\u201d<\/p>\n

The musician veered into production quite some ago. \u201cI wasn\u2019t happy with paid producers from the record company,\u201d he remembers. \u201cI worked with some big names, and wasn\u2019t happy with their work. It came to a point where I said \u2018I\u2019ll do it by myself.\u2019 It was learning by doing, and that\u2019s why I became a record producer; because I was not happy with other people\u2019s work.\u201d<\/p>\n

Asked to name specific full-lengths he was not happy with from a production standpoint, Mat still refuses to be fully drawn. \u201cVery early albums,\u201d he divulges. \u201cThis was before Primal Fear. When Primal Fear started, I had already produced some albums by my own band Sinner, which I really like. So, I was ready to do Primal Fear. It was before. I won\u2019t mention the names though, because I will not blame any people about work that was done 30 years ago, and give them a bad reputation in an interview. I won\u2019t do that, but there were some albums that I weren\u2019t happy with. With one album, the mix was horrible. On the second one I don\u2019t like, the record company forced us to go into a more pop direction, like Foreigner. It was a time where I wasn\u2019t really happy with the production, so I started to learn everything by myself. Then if something goes wrong, I can blame myself.\u201d<\/p>\n

The inaugural ingredients for a good production are \u201cgood players,\u201d the bassist lists. \u201cThe most important thing for me is excitable players and exciting performances, and a good, technical studio where you can record in a great way. The key of everything is good songs. If you have all of these things together, you can come up with a great album and a good sound.\u201d<\/p>\n

In discussing Apocalypse<\/em> for press release purposes, Mat stated: \u2018Everybody did a fantastic job and the performances were top notch.\u2019 \u201cIt\u2019s very important, and an absolute pleasure to work with professionals,\u201d he reiterates. \u201cThere are great players in Primal Fear. From the beginning, it was a wonderful time with this production. I hope that we can follow that path in the future, and record on the same kind of creative level.\u201d<\/p>\n

Performance wise, the rhythmist mainly occupies the bass position on Apocalypse<\/em>. \u201cMy bass playing?,\u201d he chuckles. \u201cI always give my best. That\u2019s the most important thing. I take my time. I come up with the best bass lines I can. I\u2019m very happy. Even the bass is an instrument which is not at the front as a solo instrument, but I\u2019m okay with my position. I\u2019m singing a lot, and I\u2019m playing bass. I\u2019m producing and writing a lot of songs, so for me, it\u2019s absolutely cool.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ralf Scheepers generally handles vocal duties of course, with occasional support from Mat. \u201cThat\u2019s cool for me,\u201d he muses. \u201cI think we have one of the best metal singers in the world. I wouldn\u2019t be able to sing the stuff Ralf does, so there\u2019s no question for me. I\u2019m happy with him and his performance; he\u2019s still got the pipes. He\u2019s doing a wonderful job.\u201d<\/p>\n

The four-stringer has garnered experience behind the microphone as far as back as the 1982 inception of Sinner, which could perhaps come into play as a producer. \u201cI push everybody to the max,\u201d he stresses. \u201cThis is my job. Sometimes it\u2019s easier, but sometimes it\u2019s more difficult. I will not be satisfied with an average performance. Sometimes it\u2019s hard, sometimes it\u2019s easy, but overall, I think it\u2019s very important that I can push the guys to the max. I think it\u2019s the 12 studio albums we\u2019ve done together, and we\u2019re a great team. There are no problems. I exactly know where I have to push Ralf. He actually delivers really, really great stuff, so it is wonderful to work with him.\u201d<\/p>\n

An interesting facet within the vocal department is the variation on display. \u201cYeah, and it\u2019s also a question of respect and trust, so if I come up with a vocal line he likes, I can bring it so it can be sung in a different way,\u201d Mat considers. \u201cIt\u2019s the creative process.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Cover artwork duties were handled by Stan Decker. \u201cIt was basically the band\u2019s idea,\u201d the songwriter credits. \u201cStan\u2019s been working with us for three albums; he did the live album (June 2017\u2019s Angels Of Mercy \u2013 Live In Germany<\/em>), the Best Of Fear<\/em> (November 2017) and now Apocalypse<\/em>. We had more ideas this time on how the eagle should burn, and the apocalypse symbols, and that stuff.\u201d<\/p>\n

Music videos have been released for \u2018King Of Madness\u2019 and \u2018The Ritual\u2019. \u201cWe like to do videos,\u201d Mat comments. \u201cWe choose the songs together that we want to do. We\u2019ve worked with a video company here in Germany for a long time. I\u2019m very happy with \u2018King Of Madness\u2019, for example, and we\u2019ve presented the band in a great way.\u201d<\/p>\n

Projects outside of Primal Fear are currently playing second fiddle, as it were. \u201cAt the moment, I\u2019m just focused on Primal Fear,\u201d the wordsmith discloses. \u201cI will have a new set of shows with my old band Sinner. We\u2019re playing together with Primal Fear in Japan and Australia, and then later in Germany, and next year I have another edition of my Rock Meets Classic tour which is a yearly tour in Germany with a symphonic orchestra and classic rock singers. We have Ian Gillan of Deep Purple with us, we have Thin Lizzy, The Sweet, REO Speedwagon. I\u2019ve been doing this tour for the past ten years, and I\u2019ve been very busy with this arena tour. It\u2019s at very big venues and it\u2019s working out good, so I\u2019m very busy with that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mat has no forthcoming studio commitments, at the time of writing. \u201cWe\u2019re pretty fine now,\u201d he reckons. \u201cThe new album is out, and the first result is coming in. We\u2019re doing a big European tour, which starts September 28th. We\u2019re going to Japan and Australia to play, and then playing later in December in Germany, so the next four months are for touring.\u201d<\/p>\n

Apocalypse<\/em> was released on August 10th, 2018 via Frontiers Music Srl.<\/p>\n

Promotional photographs by Ren\u00e9 van der Voorden. Live photograph by Roland Guth.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

PRIMAL FEAR – Hail To The Fear Anthony Morgan August 2018 Primal Fear (l-r): Tom Naumann, Alex Beyrodt, Mat Sinner, Ralf Scheepers, Francesco Jovino and Magnus Karlsson German power metal outfit Primal Fear developed a fresh strategy with respect to January 2016 full-length Rulebreaker, past albums having been somewhat different in terms of the recording […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23,4129],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-72339","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-features","category-primal-fear"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72339","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=72339"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72339\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":72376,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72339\/revisions\/72376"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=72339"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=72339"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=72339"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}