BLACKWELDER - Survival Of The Fittest
June 9, 2015, 8 years ago
(Golden Core Records/ZYX)
Current Primal Fear vocalist and drummer form the backbone of this four piece, so it's not a big surprise the music is double bass drum driven power metal, with a heavy dose of neo-classical guitar (witness "Adeturi" instrumental), courtesy of heretofore unknown Ohio born Andrew Szucs. Cue jokes about his last name. Surprisingly, Ralf Scheepers keeps his piercing screams in check. "Inner Voice", which also features a spoken voiceover and "Oriental Spell" being as close as he gets to the glass shattering range and that's not until half way through the ten song album.
In fact, "Spaceman" sees him going for electronically modulation, kind of like putting ketchup on filet mignon! A crunchy six-string tone, with plenty of fanciness over top, introduces "Freeway Of Life", while "Play Some More" is the only moment Blackwelder comes across as Primal Fear II. If you can't wait for the next collaboration between Scheepers, Mat Sinner and Alex Beyrodt, this might just tide you over.
