Primal Fear - Rulebreaker - Review

Well I went old school again with this one. I did hear the first single The End Is Near and I must admit I was a little disappointed. It was a fairly average metal pounder with not a whole heap going on musically. The solo saved the song for me but then after that I avoided playing any of the other pre-album promo leaks so that I could listen and judge with a fresh mind. I will do a quicker appraisal than I did for Avantasia as I don't wanna bore every one too much.

Angels Of Mercy - Typical Fear pounder. Much better than I was thinking actually. The chorus suffers from a lack of melody but I love the full on metal attitude. Solid. 8/10

The End Is Near - The Only song I heard before. It's a straight ahead pounder similar to the previous tune. The song has grown on me but is still one of the weakest. Ralf's vocals sound monstrous. The melody is getting better with more plays I'm sure. 7/10

Bullets & Tears - This song was also used as a promo but this is my first listen. This is another tough heavy pounder. So 3 similar tracks in a row but this is the best of the three by far. The chorus is huge and melodic but a little short. It needs more lines! My guess is that this song was written by Magnus. It sounds like his sort of composition. 8.5/10

Rulebreaker - The title track sees a slightly slower mid tempo riff start things off before Ralf starts his awesome heavy vocals. This is like a pure Accept worship song. Udo should do guest vocals on this chorus! The chorus itself is pretty catchy and very anthemic. Killer tune! 9/10

In Metal We Trust - Another song that was available for pre-listening which I successfully avoided. This time the pedal is put to the metal. The song reminds me of a mix between Hammerfall and Dream Evil. The chorus is so easy to sing along with and kicks ass. Of course this will be a riot live. Believe it or not I've yet to see PF live but maybe that will change on this album's touring cycle. I hope so 'cause this fist pumping anthem is brill! 8.5/10

We Walk Without Fear - Woaahh! An 11 minute PF song?? This should be something to be hold and it bloody well is! The beginning is like a dramatic movie score before the guitars come crashing in and we're off into the main body of the song before it slows down again to allow the song to breathe life. The song is so damn epic and melodic with a monster chorus sung amazingly well by Ralf. Damn it. I can't believe this track! Never thought they would go all epic and kicks oceans of ass! 10/10

At War With The World - A mid paced melodic song with typically catchy rocking riffs behind Ralf's heavy vocals. The urge to head bang is strong with this tune before the chorus is really cool and the melody starts to set in your mind. I love this tune. It's simple but it simply rocks! 9.5/10

The Devil In Me - Time to slow it down to a steady groove but still with very melodic and catchy guitar work. The song reminds me of Black Ninja from Battle Beast. The chorus is a tough and mean but not blessed with an amazing melody this time. I still like the power of it and Ralf's vocals are completely over the top in this song. I don't love the song compared to the others but it's still cool. 7.5/10

Constant Heart - Holy crap! What an opening riff! It's guaranteed to wreck necks. This time we're in full Priest mode. The pace is ripping and fast with guitars set to stun and Ralfie doing his best Halford over the the top. Then the simple chorus comes and whilst it should be boring as he just screams the title, I somehow love it! Fucking Amazing! I love everything about this tune as it encapsulates in 5 minutes all the traits about PF that the fans love. Riffs, shreds, screaming vocals and huge melody! 10/10

The Sky Is Burning - The one and only ballad on the album. Something to calm down after the last song is not a bad idea. Ralfie croons until the chorus before the full band join in and the chorus turns out to be an amazing one. I'd guess this was another Magnus penned tune. I don't normally love ballads but this is awesome I'm glad to say. 9/10

Raving Mad - The final track of course sees the band go out with a bang with huge Halfordisms from Ralf. He goes balls out and then the chorus sees us get the urge to scream along with Ralf as the band cuts loose behind. A proper heavy metal song to end with! 8.5/10

So after the initial worry I'm pretty much over the moon with this album. The weakest songs are OK and may get better but there's at least 5 or 6 ball busting heavy metal anthems in there that rate up there with the best ever PF tunes. Ralf is sounding like a man possessed. Can a man ever sound more metal than him?? Wow I'm just glad the 'Fear did not let me down. Overall rate 9/10