1. Before the Devil Knows You're Dead 2. Riding the Eagle 3. Six Times Dead (16.6) 4. Black Rain 5. Under the Radar 6. 5.0/Torn 7. Soar 8. Killbound 9. No Smoke Without Fire 10. Night After Night 11. Smith & Wesson 12. Exorcist 13. Hands of Time 14. Cry Havoc [*] 15. Scream [*] 16. Six Times Dead (16.6) [Video Clip]
just recieved this album (along with 'nuclear fire') from amazon yesterday. it took me a listen to get into it but i really do like it. as a PF fan i eagerly await their new albums so i can see what the band is offering and to rock my brains out to some new metal. i knew i had to add this to my collection as i own most of the bands albums (DG, BS, SS, NR, GH's, and now NF) and this one didnt disappoint. although when i recieved it from amazon, i realised that my copy didnt come with a cd booklet. a rather odd turn of events but on to the music......
the album starts off with a bunch of great tracks that get you rockin...
BEFORE THE DEVIL KNOWS YOU'RE DEAD is your typical 'death and destruction are coming' heavy metal album intro. then the album kicks off with the fast paced RIDING THE EAGLE. a great song with a rousing chorus. fast paced and rockin. then it leads us into SIX TIMES DEAD(16.6) which is presumably the title track of the album. with its eerie sound and crawling guitar lines this song is a keeper. next up is BLACK RAIN, a slower, middle eastern inspired track. slow it may be but it's still a great track and creates a mood when listening to it. which leads us into a couple more rocking tracks after that. UNDER THE RADAR and 5.0/TORN are rockers that will get your head bobbing up and down. especially the fast paced 'radar'. after these 2 rockers comes the fast paced SOAR. the fast pace of the verses is offset by a slightly slower chorus which works for the song. there's a wierd middle part that soundS like korn but i can overlook that for the rest of the song. the blistering rythm will get you headbanging. next up is KILLBOUND. this song oddly enough has a guitar line that reminds me of another PF song that i cant figure out just yet. maybe it's 'carniwar' or 'demons and angels'. but it definately sounds like they took the same guitar and put it to a new song. the song is pretty good but not one of the highlights. the chorus is kind of blah...
the next track, NO SMOKE WITHOUT FIRE, is your 'dramatic ballad' of the album. the song's ok but not one of my favs. NIGHT AFTER NIGHT opens with a great guitar intro and proceeds to pound you with some double bass drumming before slowing down for the verse. the chorus picks the faster rythm up again and throws in some helloween-esqe melody. a good song. i could see this one being even better and more dramatic in a live setting. SMITH AND WESSON is another rocker that starts off fast but slows down for the verses. it's a pretty rockin track even if the lyrics are a bit cheesy. it kinda has an 80's metal vibe to it. this is followed by THE EXORCIST. a heavy as hell song that will get you headbanging immediately with it's blistering guitar and double bass drumming mayhem. this song harkens back to the band ACCEPT. i could easily see udo screaming this one out. this one's a keeper. the albums closing song, HANDS OF TIME is definately a highlight of the album. an acoustic song where 4 band members take the vocal reins and deliver a very powerful song about life passing you by without you realizing it. the music, lyrics and vocal performance of this track are all top notch. truly amazing song.
the version of this cd i got is the digipack version which contains 2 extra tracks, CRY HAVOC and SCREAM. both of which are worth the price of admission and are better than a few of the tracks on the regular version of the cd. CRY HAVOC is an up-tempo rocker with a fun chorus and an almost tribal drumming to the verse. the final song, SCREAM, is another up-tempo rocker that will get your blood pumping and head banging. both of these tracks remind me of older PF. they could have easily come off of either of their first 2 albums.
so what is the verdict, you ask? well this album is definately a great rocker and a keeper. despite it's few flaws. pf fans will like it and i think even the casual listener will enjoy this album. i just hope for the next album they go back to the speed/power metal of albums like 'devils ground' and 'nuclear fire'.
will be seeing PF at progpower in a few weeks and i'm sure it will be awesome. cant wait to see the metal commando live!!!!!!!!!!!
KEEP IT METAL!!
A return to form for Primal Fear Submitted on: 2009-07-22
I've been a huge fan of Primal Fear since the early 2000's. In addition, they gave a smokin' performance at ProgPower VIII in Atlanta! With that said,the last two releases have been "experimental" for the band to say the least. They're solid releases, but not what a fan expects from a band that's put out the likes of Nuclear Fire and Black Sun! 16.6 is for sure a return to form for Primal Fear. If you like their earlier stuff, then you should be happy. With that said, if you dug their last two efforts, then you should be happy as well. With the addition of new guitarist Magnus Karlson, Primal Fear seems to have found a "happy" balance between the old and the new.
4.5 stars - really good, but not quite what New Religion was Submitted on: 2009-07-10
I try and keep my expectations reasonable when it comes to new albums. In the case of Primal Fear's eighth studio album 16.6 (Before the Devil Knows You're Dead) all I really expected was, well, the greatest power metal album ever recorded. Honestly, keeping my expectations reasonable after the power metal masterpiece that was 2007's New Religion was all but impossible. That album - the first to feature guitarist Magnus Karlsson (Starbreaker, Allen-Lande) - was as close to perfect as a modern power metal album can get, and I fully expected 16.6 to be even better. Sadly, that is not the case.
Don't get me wrong. 16.6 is still a terrific power metal album, and is probably the best power metal album released this year, but I wonder if Primal Fear may have set the bar impossibly high with New Religion. That was the album where Primal Fear stopped sounding like Judas Priest and started sounding like Primal Fear. 16.6 has a similar sound, and definitely benefits from increased songwriting participation by Karlsson, but it's not quite the game-changer New Religion was.
The first thing that really jumps out at you about this album is the decidedly darker tone. The majestic robot eagles of Primal Fear albums past have been replaced by a rather demonic bird/god/reaper figure on the cover, and the lyrics focus to a great degree on death and destruction. Perhaps that's the album's theme. I tried to research the significance of the term "16.6" and discovered that it has to do with a meteor that may impact Earth in 2012 (a figure also referenced in the lyrics). Aside from that, the songs on 16.6 are dark, depressing tales of devastation, anguish and revenge (the chilling "Smith & Wesson").
Musically, 16.6 is very similar to New Religion. It's a highly melodic, very powerful heavy metal sound that is the logical extension of Judas Priest and Gamma Ray - two bands that had an incredible influence on vocalist Ralf Scheepers. Karlsson fits the band's twin-axe sound perfectly, the veteran Mat Sinner's presence on bass is steady and reliable, and Scheepers' vocal performance is as incredible as always. The album's best tracks are "Six Times Dead" (the first single), "No Smoke Without Fire", and album closer "Hands of Time" which features Scheepers, Karlsson, Sinner, and guitarist Henny Wolter all taking a turn on vocals. "Killbound" and "Smith & Wesson" are my least favorites.
Compared to just about every other recent power metal release (excluding Blind Guardian's - they're in a league of their own), 16.6 (Before the Devil Knows You're Dead) is probably a 5-star album, but compared to New Religion, the best I can give it is 4 stars (though I'd choose 4.5 stars if that were an option). I wish I could better articulate why the album falls short of its predecessor; it just doesn't have the same impact New Religion did. It's still better than the first six Primal Fear albums (not to mention most other bands' best work) and if you're any kind of power metal fan though, you're definitely going to want to check it out.
NOTE: Early pressings of 16.6 (Before the Devil Knows You're Dead) come in a digipack with a pair of bonus tracks and a video clip for "Six Times Dead". The packaging is pretty cheap, but the bonus tracks - new studio songs "Cry Havoc" and "Scream" - make this version the one to get.
Great Music Submitted on: 2009-07-08
This Album is a bit different more of an edge on the classic Primal Fear, But also a diverse side with a few slower more ballad type songs. I like the harder songs on this CD and the songs do rock, Primal Fear is using more notes or chords in their music this time around and the guitar parts are more percussive which I really liked. Not the best Primal Fear Album but I like where they are going with this new idea.
Kind of a step back but still good Submitted on: 2009-06-18
I really would like to be more of a fan of power metal than I am, but I just find the genre void of any variety whatsoever. I'm thinking of dragonforce here. Primal fear however, is far and away the best power metal band I've ever heard. I'm not saying I like every single song they've put out, but they change their tempos up. They don't have to have the same drum beat that a lot of power metal bands rely on. Overall I really like these guys, and hope to see them live at some point. I love their cover of Metallica's Seak and destroy.
Overall I found this album to be a slight step back, songwritting wise. Musically it's really cool. They have enough of the old, to stay true to who they are, but they also mix it up and experament a little here and there. The perfect blend of new and old.
Riding The Eagle 8/10 - Kind of a typical power metal song. Relatively fast paced, lots of double bass drums. The chorus is ok, but it's missing something. Overall still a pretty good song. I don't know what it is with these guys and eagles.
Six Times Dead 8/10 - The only thing that bugs me about this one is the lyrics in the chorus sixteen six all over the world etc. It just bugs me. The song is an upper mid tempo song. Nice guitar riff in the verses. Great vocal melodies, especially the chorus. If not for the lyrics this would be my favorite song on the album.
Black Rain 8/10 - Cool acoustic intro. This one's a slow almost ballad type song. The vocals in the chorus are a little too annoying for my taste, but I can overlook that. Formula One is kind of the same way, and that's one of my favorite Primal Fear songs. It's still a cool song. I like the guitar work in the verses, the first is acoustic, and the second is electric. The bridge and guitar solo, the song picks up speed. The solo is pretty solid too.
Under The Radar 6/10 - This one's another heavier upper tempo song. The verses are pretty good, if not a bit typical Primal Fear. The chorus doesn't really do it for me though.
5.0 /Torn 6/10 - kind of interesting intro. I enjoy the bass in there. Kind of an upper-mid-tempo song, slower than the non ballad songs on this album to this point. There's some symphonic elaments in the pre chorus. It's missing something, a hook, but still it's a decent song. The song kind of goes on longer than it should. I like the acoustic outro though.
Soar 7/10 - Cool intro. Kind of reminds me of Lincon Park, but not in a bad way. It quickly turns into a typical Primal Fear song. I like the guitar sound on this one. The bridge almost reminds me of Korn, kind of random guitar notes being played over drums and bass, and kind of a grove beat, and I'm not sure if that was a turntable I heard. The chorus in this one is also a little too weak. It's relatively fast paced.
Killbound 5/10 - This one is another up mid tempo song, with a nice grove. I'm realy not a fan of this chorus. The verses are cool. For some reason this one reminds me of Hammerfall's Blod bound.
No Smoke Without Fire 7/10 - This one's slower. The intro has some string instruments, with guitars and drums and bass. The verses have piano and strings, and some sort of electronic sounding beat, then the guitars and drums kick in just before the chorus. Again the chorus is somewhat lacking, but the music makes up for a lot of that.
Night After Night 5/10 - Fast intro, but the song gets slower untill the chorus which speeds up. I'm just not feeling this one. It's ok, buut it just doesn't jump out at me.
Smith & Wesson 6/10 - Another upper mid tempo song. Nice riffs, the verses get slower. The chorus picks up the pace. The lyrics in the chorus bring this one down. Just awful. Decent vocal melodies.
The Exorcist 8/10 - One of the faster songs on the album, certainly of the second half. The verses are pretty good. Typical Primal Fear song. Decent chorus.
Hands of Time /10 - This one's a ballad type song. Lots of acoustic guitars. Is this the same vocalist? If so he sounds different. Looking at wikipedia I guess not. Overall an ok song. I can't remember hearing a Primal Fear song like this before.
Overall this is an ok cd. Sadly so far it's the best one of 09. I've seen the lengths of the new Dream Theater songs, so I'm not holding out hope that one will be good. It is nice to finally hear a band release something where the songs actually vary in tempo. I do enjoy the music on this album, I just feel they could've worked on the lyrics and some melodies a little more.
Still in a year where we get lame slow hookless releases from once great bands like Queensryche and Black sabbath/heaven and hell, it's nice to hear a band put something out that can hold my attention. Did I mention the previous bands' releases are rediculously slow. If you're a Primal Fear fan, then you should definately own this. If you're new to the band, I'd recomend another release. I liked New Religion, their self titled and Black Sun, the most. So far this is the best 2009 has to offer in heavy metal. Ok to edit that last statement, I was skeptical, but Dream Theater's new one beats this one. Still a good cd though.
great album....
Great Music
Kind of a step back but still good