By Martin Popoff

PRIMAL FEAR and SINNER bassist Mat Sinner has put on a new iron-bound hat as heavy metal helper to his bandmate vocalist Ralf Scheepers, and the big, bald one’s first solo album.

After the current North American tour, sez Mat, “We’ll record the first songs for Ralf’s solo album. He wrote a lot of songs and he just wanted to come out and show a different side and still his metal side. It will be an interesting album with a lot of guests and a lot of nice friends appearing on this album. It will be a good album I think. We’ll actually start to do it… Uli Kusch from GAMMA RAY, MASTERPLAN… or wherever he played, HELLOWEEN (laughs), he will play the drums on this album and it will be a very interesting thing. Also, I will record a new Sinner album in the autumn, and we’ll play some festivals. I have to finish the new MICHAEL KISKE album.”

So to clarify, when is work on Ralf’s album starting?

“We start when we get back from the US. I think we will start in mid-June. I think the drums will be ready when we come back from America and we’ll collect the ideas from our friends and the guests who will appear on the album. I will play bass and produce the whole thing. Ralf will sing. The album will be out in January or February 2011.”

And stylistically? “In part it’s very metal. Very metal. So it will not be Ralf’s ballad album. There were some ballads where Ralf was showing a different kind of music, his talent in music, because he’s playing all the instruments on one song, for example. So you hear him playing guitar, keyboards, so it’s very interesting. But overall I will say it’s a very tough metal album.”

Heavier than Primal Fear?

“Part yes, part no (laughs).”

Primal Fear new live DVD named 16.6 - All Over The World, recorded in various locations between September and November 2009 and on a live CD aptly titled Live in the USA is out this month via Frontiers Records.