Live Reviews : Primal Fear & Black Majesty @ Northcote Social Club, Melbourne 11/06/2016

Words: Jonathon Besanko

Images: Luke Doddrell

(Click here to view the full gallery)

For the first time in their nigh-two decades long career, German heavy metal outfit Primal Fear have come to Australia. Though only short, with two dates under their belt (Melbourne and Sydney, respectively), I have a feeling after tonight the German metallers will be back very soon. What a night this was!

Taking place at the Northcote Social Club, this is a venue I’ve heard about a number of times before, but I had never previously had the chance to catch a show here. I was quite impressed by what I saw and heard. The sound quality, first off, from this room is great. There was awesome clarity to its sound and mix, so much so in fact that every instrument used by both of the bands playing tonight were entirely audible; and you didn’t have to strain to listen for them, as with other venues I’ve visited in the past. Once everyone had left at the end of the night, I was actually surprised to see how decent the space was from the sound desk to the stage. That says a lot about the crowd tonight. Primal Fear had sold out the Northcote Social Club, and as Steve Janevski (guitarist for Black Majesty, the sole opener for this evening) noted, and I paraphrase, “It’s awesome to see a sold out crowd at a power metal gig!” And he’s right. It doesn’t happen too often. Melbourne are a city who love their melodic death metal bands and their prog acts, but power metal has always offered a hesitant crowd. It’s a testament, I feel, to the uniqueness and to that old rock ‘n’ roll/metal spirit of bands like Black Majesty and Primal Fear that they can draw such an audience, and one clearly filled with many older fans of the latter band. It felt a special thing to be a part of as I squeezed into the crowd, the short guy that I am; off to the side amidst excited faces.

Black Majesty

Black Majesty took to the stage with all the force and grace you’d expect from this band, with their classically Dio-tinged melodic power metal. Black Majesty are a band I’ve liked and have followed for a little while now, but tonight was the first time I was finally getting an opportunity to see them live. Man, do they blow away their studio efforts whilst on the stage! With the feedback from the speakers never unpleasant, it made complete sense why a band such as the Melbourne metallers (who have a legacy themselves, having been around almost as long as Primal Fear after 15 years) would have been chosen for tonight’s sole support slot. Bands like Black Majesty make me proud to call myself a ‘Melburnian,’ and whether it was the bite Janevski and Hanny Mohamed’s guitars had to them, or the soaring vocal graces of John Cavaliere, it mattered little in the scheme of things that elements of their set such as the lightwork were a bit underwhelming (thankfully this trend didn’t continue with Primal Fear). This was purely about the performance, and in that regard, it overshadowed the rest. They weren’t flashy or anything like that, and they didn’t need to be. The bass resonated and the drumming was stellar. Janevski’s solos were a work of art themselves. There was a lot of soul and flare to it. Black Majesty finished on a high note… literally. In Cavaliere’s ascending vocals, it kept building and growing stronger until the music stopped and the band gave their goodnight’s and thank you’s. Great performance.

It wasn’t all too long before we had to wait for Primal Fear to take to the stage. As the pit thickened and mist enveloped the drum kit and stage, the intro to “Final Embrace” sounded in as bassist and band co-founder Matt Sinner walked out on stage, soon followed by the rest of them; and then by the Metal Commando himself, Ralf Scheepers. Using the same setlist they have used over in North America recently with Luca Turilli’s Rhapsody, Primal Fear were met with open arms by the Melbourne audience. With a group of a few guys chanting Ralf’s name and holding up a small Deutschland banner in honour of German metal heroes, later in the show, Scheepers even briefly wore the guys’ Deutschland hat (and with a big smile on his face) to the amusement and cheer of others.

Primal Fear

I wrote this over a number of times in my notes as the message kept hitting home time and time again. Primal Fear maintained a studio quality live effort all evening. I was incredibly impressed by their individual talents as a band and how equally they were reflected in the venue’s great sound mix. With crowd engagement another talking point of their set, Scheepers pulled everyone into his charismatic aura from the moment “go,” and he took great delight in performing the usual frontman job of pretending we weren’t being loud enough and getting us to always call out higher and chant longer. Something about him made it seem fresh, though. And I believe a lot of that comes from the natural charisma this man exudes. Further coupled by the non-stop metal conflagration from the stage that didn’t give you a moments rest (and nor would you want it to!), energy and fire burst from Primal Fear for the entirety of their set. The guitars blew me away, and though Magnus Karlsson wasn’t present (with former member Tom Naumann once again filling guitar duties), the combination and Naumann and Alex Beyrodt was a force to be reckoned with.

With “Seven Seals” leading into a drum solo by Francesco Jovino, the man displayed his impressive talents, before the night led into of my favourite moments. As Scheepers announced a “slower song”, Primal Fear began to play “The Sky Is Burning”; one of the songs off the new record ‘Rulebreaker’, and what I feel to be one of the better songs Primal Fear have written in a while. Showing a more emotional side to the band, its build up to that explosive moment arrived with such power.

Primal Fear

Followed by the likes of choral chanting to “When Death Comes Knocking” and “Metal Is Forever”, the latter saw Beyrodt put the neck of his guitar out into the crowd, much to the delight of those at the front who plucked at the strings. Leading into some stellar tracks in the encore which I won’t spoil here for you Sydney-goers, this evening showed how talented a vocalist and frontman Ralf Scheepers really is. Within his four-octave range, he seamlessly went from baritone lows to pitched squeals reminiscent of Rob Halford himself (not surprising if you know Scheepers back story). He even showed off a few times with crowd chants where by the end he just would wail for as long as possible to tease us, before then grinning wickedly. A true class act.

I have a seen a lot of great acts in my time, including a number of big German bands such as Accept and Blind Guardian. After tonight, Primal Fear are definitely up there with the best of them, and have taken the cake in many regards as one of the finest, most consistently energetic live acts I’ve seen at one of the better venues I’ve been to.

Primal Fear hit the Newtown Social Club in Sydney tonight (with support from Hazmat). Presented by Front Row Touring, this is your last chance to catch the German metallers live in Australia this year. Get your tickets now through Newtown Social Club’s website! Tickets limited.

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