Scheepers-Scheepers

Frontiers Records 2011

Let me start off by saying I have the greatest respect for Ralf Scheeper. As a vocalist he is top notch with a style not too far removed from that of Rob Halford. He has sung with 80's metal band Tyran Pace and power metal act Gamma Ray. Currently he can be found fronting Germany's Primal Fear. While honestly European power metal is not my favorite genre I was looking forward to hearing Scheeper's solo album as it sounded promising. Featuring guest appearances by vocalist Tim"Ripper" Owens (Judas Priest,Beyond Fear,Iced Earth), multi-instrumentalist Snowy Shaw (Therion,Dream Evil,King Diamond) on drums, Sander Gommans (After Forever) on guitar and fellow Primal Fear bass player Matt Sinner (who also produced the album) Scheeper's solo album left me a feeling a little underwhelmed. There are some good tracks like the opening "Locked In A Dungeon" and "Remission Of Sin" (on which Owens and Scheeper engage in dueling lead vocals). But tracks like "The Fall" are all flash with little substance. I didn't care much for either cover-"Saints Of Rock" (Tyran Pace) sounded to flat with too much of a modern flare to it and the Judas Priest cover ("Before The Dawn") I found uninspiring. At this point I expect to get all sorts of hate mail from Primal Fear fans (wouldn't bother me any) but while tracks like "Back On The Track" and "Dynasty"are good power metal numbers they all blur together (which is part of the problem I find with power metal from Europe.). Technically top notch but they all sound alike. The other problem I have is that too many numbers ("The Pain Of The Accused") are way to mellow. Where is the meat? And I'm not sure what is up with the awful "Compassion" that sounds like a throw away Scorpion's ballad. I know it sounds as if I didn't care for this disc at all but that isn't true. There is some solid heavy metal to be found here. But there is also a lot of filler. Judging by the album cover I expected this to be a knock out punch. Instead it was more like a jab here, a jab there and then back into the corner.