Domination

On their 15th album, German power metal vets Primal Fear hoist their chalices with a revamped lineup. <i>Domination</i> marks the studio debuts of new drummer André Hilgers (formerly of German metal mainstays Rage and Bonfire) and new guitarist Thalia Bellazecca, a 25-year-old Italian shredder known for her fleet-fingered online guitar covers. You can hear Primal Fear’s <i>Painkiller</i>-era Priest influence on opening track “The Hunter”, a battle-ready anthem that showcases their twin guitar assault and singer Ralf Scheepers’ impressive range in equal measure. On “Far Away”, Bellazecca and fellow ax-slinger Magnus Karlsson carve off a galloping backdrop for Scheepers’ Viking metal cadences before screaming into the moody instrumental “Hallucinations”. The soaring single “Tears of Fire” offers a tale of heroic glory, while Melissa Bonny of Swiss symphonic metallers Ad Infinitum makes a guest vocal appearance on the power ballad “Eden”.