01. Angels Of Mercy 02. The End Is Near 03. Bullets & Tears 04. Rulebreaker 05. In Metal We Trust 06. We Walk Without Fear 07. At War With The World 08. The Devil In Me 09. Constant Heart 10. The Sky Is Burning 11. Raving Mad

Verdict: 6

Artist: Primal Fear
Album: Rulebreaker
Release date: 29 January 2016
Label: Frontiers Records

Primal Fear are hardly the new guys on the block, they have been around forever, if not since the dawn of time,  since the dawn of the new Millennium. Former Gamma Ray vocalist Ralf Scheepers and Sinner bassist/vocalist Mat Sinner, both respected German metal musicians founded Primal Fear back in 1997. Since then they have been producing high quality trade mark German Heavy Metal along the veins of Bands like Helloween, Accept and Scorpions.

It has been rumoured that they  formed the band since Ralf Scheepers wasn't hired as Rob Halford's replacement in Judas Priest.

Rulebreaker is their eleventh studio album by this incredibly productive outfit and the quality is just as high as we have learnt to expect from them. It is straight forward upright metal from the beginning to the end and if you enjoy bands like Judas Priest, UDO, Hammerfall and Accept this is right up your alley. The songs as well as the production is really solid, still a few tracks are slightly stronger than the lot.

Midway through the album "We Walk Without Fear" opens up with a clock ticking and some odd noises before a huge orchestral soundscape with massive choirs build the temper of this massive, eleven minute track. The verses almost resembles "The Eagle Has Landed" by Saxon slightly while the bridge and chorus resemble slightly Kamelot, a fantastic composition indeed!

The opening track "Angels of Mercy", the title track "Rulebreaker" and "At War With The World" all have the quality that they would fit particularly well performed live. They are slightly catchier than the rest of the lot.

If you like Power/Heavy Metal and for some reason missed out on Primal Fear this is a great time to jump aboard the Primal Fear space ship. If you for some strange reason don't enjoy well performed German Metal but fancy gifted Swedish multi instrumentalists, Magnus Karlsson (Starbreaker, Last Tribe) flashes his guitar skills pretty darn good throughout the album.