PRIMAL- s/t
Primal is an LA band that may be of interest to our readers due to the involvement of Vengeance/ Deliverance shredder Glenn Rogers. They play straight ahead classic heavy metal, no apologies, occasionally straying into speed metal or thrash, due to the dual guitarists spontaneously bursting into fiery solos. Drummer Jorge Iacobellis used to play with Rogers in Hirax. (V8, Logos) Argentinian singer Alberto Zamarbide's melodic, almost hoarse vocals fall somewhere between Swiss doom band Pylon's singer and Troy Sanders from Mastodon's clean vocals. There is much to like about this album. The one and only Rudy Sarzo guest stars on the song "Cautivos del Sistema." Lyrics tend to be socially conscious, whether they're talking about our political miasma "Disorder", warning of the enemy at the gates "The Gates", freedom "Freedom", or current events "Borderline." Primal throws a bit of mixed signals. "Demolition" seems to be antagonistic against religion- "Dangerous to believe in... eradicate religion", yet in slower rocker "Freedom" one line reads "The sacrifice was given 2000 years ago." While not a Christian band per se, they offer a clean and positive alternative to some of the garbage that's out there. "Wisdom" starts off at a pace that would have been comfortable on the debut Deliverance album. "The King" is a fun song with bgvs yelling the chorus: "Rule us king! Lead us!" The previously mentioned Spanish song sounds more ominous in Spanish than the rest of the songs in English, and "Someone is Coming", with its chorus of "But someone is coming to kill me!" has me scratching my head. Overall, an excellent debut from a bunch of well seasoned metal musicians. Glenn Rogers is clearly underrated. His guitar prowess on any album should be indicative of a must-buy situation. Enjoy! (No Life Til Metal Records) 4 out of 5 stars
