PRIMAL FEAR – The History Of Fear

I will do my best to keep this good/bad discussion with myself free for Judas Priest, Michael Bolton and everything else you may associate with Primal Fear. If you have followed Ralf Scheepers’ carrier over the years, you are aware of his haircuts as well as his stage performance and voice, and you know what I am talking about. Primal Fear is a band formed by a couple of the guys from Sinner, Ralf, and they now see a bright future as powerhouse drummer Randy Black from Annihilator fame is beating the skins.

I can’t help it, but although Primal Fear is a successful band for Mat Sinner, it must be a slightly bittersweet feeling to see a band that has the originality police’s attention surpass his lifelong effort, the band Sinner. In all brutal honesty, Sinner, the band, never made it that far although they were definitely in it for the long run. I remember seeing them support Savatage in 1996, and after a decade in the business you smell rats when a band ends the set with a cover of Billy Idol’s “Rebel Yell”. Anyway, all respect to someone who dares to show dedication and belief after a long time of “coming out fighting”.

Primal Fear’s history of fear is somewhat documented on this DVD. It’s a not documentary though the title might have you believing so. It’s simply a nice package to the fans – fans that never get enough of Birmingham-inspired metal combined with a small dose of German speed metal. (Yeah, I didn’t mention the bands!). There’s nothing new under the (black) sun when Primal Fear hits the stage, but as long as it is done with respect and conviction, I see no reason to put the band down. Oh, back to the DVD: Like I said, the fearsome history isn’t represented by the typical documentary, the band simply lets the music do the talking. First up is the set from Wacken Open Air in 2001, a gig that not only shows the band on top notch, but relevant or not, Primal Fear is a band for the people and knows how to work a festival. Next up is a show at Longhorn in Stuttgart, the band’s hometown, simply a great show and great footage. The sound is killer, the 5.1 is done to perfection. On the other hand, I remain doubtful to the way the “history” of fear is presented. A few videoclips, a stupid Australian report from Wacken – it’s actually the half hour bootleg section that shows “the history of fear”, going back to 1998.

Like I said, the package is nice (could it be the fact that Mat Sinner also goes by the name Matthias Lasch and has a good job for Nuclear Blast???), this is thrilling for the fans, all the drunken backstage/bus footage is included (Fleisch, you rule on air bass guitar!), but next time maybe there should be more storytelling to it – in English of course. But bottom line: A well done DVD, a good introduction to the band (musically), and a solid dose of power metal.