Due to a traffic jam we arrived too late to catch support act Brainstorm in action which explains why a review of their performance is something for another occasion.

Fortunately we were just in time to see headliners Primal Fear kick off their set. This was my first live encounter with these gentlemen and while I really like their latest album, I didn’t have very high expectations for tonight’s gig.

Primal Fear is very popular amongst fans of melodic power metal and quite a few had might their way to the Biebob.

A short intro opened tonight’s event and was followed by “Under The Radar” a track from the combo’s newest release “16.6 Before The Devil Knows You Are Dead”. The song was the perfect opener for a 90 minute melodic metal show.

From the start the sound was well balanced and singer Ralf Scheeper’s tonsils were clearly in fine shape. The crowd also responded enthusiastically from the off but the sparks really ignited during second track of the evening, “Battalions Of Hate”.

Highlight of the gig for me came in the shape of the super catchy “Six Times Dead” from the aforementioned “16.6”. This is by any standards a killer track with a high singalong degree. More tracks from “16.6” followed including “Killbound”, “Riding The Eagle” and “Hands Of Time”. The latter saw the band dragging some bar stools onto the stage and Matt Sinner joining in on vocals. The guitar duo of Henny and Magnus was pleasing to both the eye and ear and when bassist Matt threw in his talent, things really heated up.

Other tunes that got an airing were “Metal Is Forever” from the album “Devil’s Ground” and “Seven Seals” and the ever popular “Chainbreaker”, both culled from their debut.

All in all a very solid performance and one that was way better than anything I had expected.