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Album Review – Primal Fear / Domination (2025)

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The Teutonic eagle of Heavy Metal strikes again with a thunderous 13-track opus, a masterclass in sonic warfare offering an unrelenting barrage of soaring vocals, earth-shattering riffs, and battle-hardened anthems forged in fire and steel.

Spanning more than 25 years of pure Heavy and Power Metal, having faced numerous challenges since their formation in 1997, and having repeatedly risen from their lowest points like a phoenix from the ashes, Germany’s own metal commando Primal Fear is finally back into the battlefield with their fifteenth studio opus, simply titled Domination, following up on their successful 2023 album Code Red. After a recent line-up change, which saw the incredible Thalìa Bellazecca join on guitar and André Hilgers on drums, alongside the iconic frontman Ralf Scheepers, the unbreakable bassist Mat Sinner, and the unstoppable guitarist Magnus Karlsson, the band will strike again with a thunderous 13-track opus, a masterclass in sonic warfare offering an unrelenting barrage of soaring vocals, earth-shattering riffs, and battle-hardened anthems forged in fire and steel.

The album kicks off with the striking The Hunter, with Ralf delivering pure adrenaline through the song’s classic words (“Through the labyrinth of fear, you’re lost and alone / A primal force unleashed a river of blood / This is the part / When you will run for your life / And every step you take / Leads closer to my knife / Blood stains the ground / The hunt never ends”); and  Magnus and Thalìa showcase their passion for shredding in the excellent Destroyer, a pure Primal Fear extravaganza with Mat and André keeping the rhythm flowing in great fashion. The band then goes full Melodic Power Metal in Far Away, where Thalìa proves why she was chosen as the new band’s guitarist as her dexterity is impressive, followed by I Am the Primal Fear, and as cheesy as the song title might sound, the music is a great mid-tune party by the band, with Mat kicking some ass on bass. Needless to say, it’s great to have him back in action. Tears of Fire is another song with a classic title following a similar pattern as the previous song, with Ralf’s soaring vocals adding an extra touch of epicness to the overall result; whereas back to a heavier, faster and more dynamic sonority we face Heroes and Gods, with André crushing his drums while Ralf pierce our minds with his undisputed screams.

Hallucinations is a smooth, melodic instrumental piece where Thalìa once again steals the spotlight with her flammable axe, warming us up for Eden, a dark and enfolding power ballad by those Teutonic metallers led by Ralf’s passionate vocal performance. In Scream the name of the song says it all, demanding us to jump up and down with Primal Fear and simply scream together with Ralf. Furthermore, the heaviness flowing from the guitars by Magnus and Thalìa is truly awesome, boosted by Mat’s thunderous bass. The Dead Don’t Die brings forward another blast of razor-edged riffs and blast beats that reek of Rock N’ Roll, perfect for some wild headbanging, and get ready to be caught in a crossfire of pure Heavy Metal to the sound of Crossfire, where André pounds his drums nonstop for our total delight. March Boy March is a song that gradually evolves into a metal attack led by Ralf’s piercing vocals while the band’s guitar duo keeps delivering sheer electricity through their axes, and ending the album we have the melancholic ballad A Tune I Won’t Forget, which is fine for what it is despite taking away some of the power blasted in all previous songs.

Recorded by Dennis Ward at Kangaroo Studios, produced by Mat Sinner and co-produced by Ralf Scheepers and Magnus Karlsson, and mixed and mastered by Jacob Hansen at Hansen Studios, Domination reeks of classic Primal Fear while at the same time sounding fresh and unique, proving why the band has been on the road for so many years against all odds. You can check what the German eagle is up to on Facebook and on Instagram, including their breathtaking live performances, stream their incendiary discography on Spotify, and above all that, put your metallic hands on Domination by clicking HERE. Primal Fear are more than ready to spread their metal wings once again all across the globe and dominate the world of heavy music armed with their new album, a new chapter in the career of this Teutonic eagle that refuses to die, forever fighting in the name of our beloved Heavy Metal.

Best moments of the album: Destroyer, Heroes and Gods, Scream and Crossfire.

Worst moments of the album: A Tune I Won’t Forget.

Released in 2025 Reigning Phoenix Music

Track listing
1. The Hunter 4:21
2. Destroyer 4:31
3. Far Away 4:19
4. I Am the Primal Fear 5:41
5. Tears of Fire 5:14
6. Heroes and Gods 4:10
7. Hallucinations 2:37
8. Eden 7:25
9. Scream 4:27
10. The Dead Don’t Die 4:27
11. Crossfire 4:12
12. March Boy March 5:01
13. A Tune I Won’t Forget 3:32

Band members
Ralf Scheepers – vocals
Mat Sinner – bass, vocals
Magnus Karlsson – guitars
Thalìa Bellazecca – guitars
André Hilgers – drums

Metal Chick of the Month – Nicole Ansperger

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One last silver kiss before the last string decays…

We’ve already had some incredible vocalists, guitarists, bassists, keyboardists, drummers and even a saxophonist here at The Headbanging Moose among our metal chicks to properly celebrate the power and importance of women in heavy music, but never a musician like the one selected to conclude the year of 2016. Can you think of anything more unconventional (and charming) than a stunning female fiddler playing kick-ass Heavy Metal? That’s exactly the case with German bombshell Nicole Ansperger, a high-skilled mistress of Celtic Folk fiddling known for her contributions to different groups and projects such as Swiss Folk Metal band Eluveitie, German Folk Rock group Paddy Goes To Holyhead, German Folk Punk band Across the Border and German Neo-Classical Metal orchestra Haggard.

Born in 1981 in the beautiful city of Stuttgart, Germany, our talented fiddler said her strong passion for playing music came to light after listening to the music by Italian composer and virtuoso violinist Antonio Vivaldi, famous for his highly-acclaimed series of violin concertos known as The Four Seasons. At the age of 6, she became a student of violinist George Moradian, who knew exactly how to help her develop her style and utilize all her natural potential, always by practicing famous pieces by masters such as Vivaldi and Bach and adding her own style to those. Then, at the age of nineteen, instead of becoming part of an orchestra she ended up joining her first Folk Rock band, learning then how to do improvisations, her true passion in music. Nicole never really thought about following a career playing the violin, it was just a hobby for her at first, but since 2005 she has been involved in so many bands, projects and concerts that she was able to turn music into her main profession.

Due to a guest visit with the famous band The Hooters, she was discovered by German Folk Rock band Paddy Goes To Holyhead in 2005, later joining Folk Punk band Across the Border in 2008 and recording two albums with them, named Loyalty (2009) and Folkpunk Air-Raid (2011). In addition to that, she played several concerts with German Symphonic Metal band Haggard in 2013, such as the one and only Wacken Open Air. You can have a good time listening to her solid performances with those bands on many YouTube videos, such as Across The Border’s Loyalty, Fucked Up World and Übers Meer / Rio Reiser, as well as Paddy Goes To Holyhead’s Far Away and Great Song of Whiskey. Apart from those bands, she also played violin in the 2006 album Fairy and the Dragon (a project of Jo Naumann from Paddy Goes To Holyhead), she was a guest violinist in the 2014 album Wegweiser, by Swiss Melodic Death/Folk Metal band Abinchova as you can witness in the excellent tune Flaschengeist, and she also played violin on Winter’s Judgement, by Italian band Misteyes, from their 2016 album Creeping Time.

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However, it was in 2013 when she became a member of Eluveitie that she finally conquered the world of heavy music, replacing Meri Tadić on the violin and cello on December 11 of that year, having recorded with those Swiss metallers the singles King (her solo on this tune is simply superb) and The Call of the Mountains, and the full-length album Origins, all in 2014. And in case you want to see one of her violin solos with Eluveitie, I suggest you take a listen at this soulful one announcing her first full gig with Eluveitie. When asked about how she was invited to join Eluveitie, Nicole said she was at a concert and met a guy who knew the band, who then asked her if she would be interested in playing with them. Obviously, her answer was positive, and the guy got her in contact with Swiss multi-instrumentalist Chrigel Glanzmann, the mastermind behind Eluveitie, to whom she provided some of her demos. I guess I don’t need to say how good those demos were and what resulted out of that, right? Sadly, due to her family situation, our talented fiddler had to leave Eluveitie on August 3, 2015, as it became impossible for her to be on the road with the band constantly. The departure was very harmonious, though. “Unfortunately, it can be extremely difficult to manage personal obligations and take care of a family alongside a life of constant touring, and Nicole’s priorities are with her family – where they should be. We are parting amicably and would like to thank Nicole for the good times and her musical contribution. It’s been an honour to share stage and studio with such a talented musician!”, commented Eluveitie, while Nicole complemented saying that “this certainly doesn‘t mean an end to my musical career. Music will always be a very important part of my life and who knows – maybe we‘ll see each other again one day.” And guess what? It didn’t take too long for Nicole and Eluveitie to meet again. For our total delight, she rejoined the band in the middle of 2016, already playing several summer festivals with the band, including the always fantastic Wacken Open Air.

When asked about her biggest challenge from all bands she has already played in her career, she mentioned the time she played with Haggard, mainly the first few gigs like the very first one in Mexico, when she had only one week to practice the entire set and hadn’t met anyone from the band before. And although she has played most of her career in Germany, she said she still wants to visit lots of different countries, naming Australia as one of her desired destinations. Finally, before you complain that I haven’t mentioned her biggest idols in heavy music, here they are to conclude this tribute to the talented Nicole! When she was a teenager, she mentioned she used to listen a lot to old school bands such as Iron Maiden and Black Sabbath, switching to more contemporary and intricate groups like Opeth and Dream Theater in recent years. Well, no matter what, we have to admit our gracious Nicole has indeed an amazing taste for music.

Equipment
Diamo Carbon Violin
Viper 7 String Wood Violin
Acoustic Violin with Magnetic Pickup
Accoustic Cello Rouen 2008
Audioprotect/Vision Inear

Nicole Ansperger’s Official Facebook page