Swedish guitarist Magnus Karlsson (PRIMAL FEAR, STARBREAKER, LAST TRIBE) has finished laying down his parts for the forthcoming solo album from Ralf Scheepers of German power metallers PRIMAL FEAR. According to a posting on the PRIMAL FEAR web site, "Magnus delivered his guitar parts on some songs of the album and did a killer job as always. Just some more lead guitars are missing by some other great players and we're ready to mix the album after the forthcoming [PRIMAL FEAR] European tour!"
As previously reported, powerhouse American vocalist Tim "Ripper" Owens (HAIL!, YNGWIE MALMSTEEN, BEYOND FEAR, JUDAS PRIEST, ICED EARTH) will make a guest appearance on Scheepers' forthcoming CD. Owens will be heard dueting with Scheepers in the track "Remission Of Sin". Other guest musicians expected to appear on the album include Swedish multi-instrumentalist Snowy Shaw (DIMMU BORGIR, THERION, DREAM EVIL, KING DIAMOND, MERCYFUL FATE) on drums, Sander Gommans (AFTER FOREVER, HDK) on guitar and PRIMAL FEAR's Mat Sinner playing bass on the entire LP and producing. A photo shoot with Alex Kuehr for the CD's cover took place in early July in Germany.
In a recent interview with the "Metalzone" radio show (web site) with Kostas Purevil Kyriakakis and Helena Mihailidou, Scheepers revealed that his upcoming solo album will include a remake of his song "Saints Of Rock" from Scheepers' pre-PRIMAL FEAR band TYRAN PACE and a cover version of "Before The Dawn' from JUDAS PRIEST. "'Saints Of Rock' is gonna be, of course, a little bit more modern than it was [when the original version was recorded] in 1986," he explained. "I mean, right now we have much more possibilities to make songs sound a little bit more modern, starting with the drum sound and the bass sounds — having a much more distorted sound." He added, "I think 'Before The Dawn' pretty much is a [straight] cover — [there's] just a little more orchestral things going on, I have more strings in the song compared to the JUDAS PRIEST [original]. Back then there wasn't much strings going on. I think they even have a piano [in the original version], which I don't have. I have strings and I have this atmosphere stuff going on. Vocal-wise, I just added a harmony at the last bridge before last chorus, I added a harmony which is not on the original, but that's the basic difference."
In a June 2010 interview with Metal Assault, Scheepers stated about the musical direction of his forthcoming solo CD, "It's more diverse [than PRIMAL FEAR], you can say." He added, "In the beginning I had those ballads that we couldn't use for PRIMAL FEAR because they might be too mellow, but now we've started to write together on it. Basically, it's my ideas on it, but I have a great team, with Mat and Magnus and some other members — Sander [Gommans], the ex-AFTER FOREVER guitarist, helped me a lot. It's a good variety — from the hardest to the softest tones."
PRIMAL FEAR recently released a new live DVD, "16.6 - All Over The World" (recorded in various locations between September and November 2009), and a live CD, aptly titled "Live In The USA".
The brand new Primal Fear European tour is about to kick off:
18.09.2010 POL - Warsaw - Progresja
19.09.2010 CZ - Pardubice - Zluty Pes Pardubice
21.09.2010 D - Aschaffenburg - Colossaal
22.09.2010 D - Munich - Backstage
23.09.2010 D - Cologne - Underground
25.09.2010 IT - Bari Modugno - Demode
26.09.2010 IT - Rome - Black Out
28.09.2010 AUT - Woergl - Komma
29.09.2010 D - Nuernberg - Hirsch
30.09.2010 D - Osnabrueck - Lagerhalle
01.10.2010 D - Burglengenfeld - VA Zentrum
02.10.2010 D - Bad Arolsen - Outback
04.10.2010 SWE - Vaesteras - Sigurdsgatan2
05.10.2010 SWE - Stockholm - Gotokolare
06.10.2010 SWE - Gothenburg - Sticky Fingers
08.10.2010 FIN - Tampere - Sputnik
09.10.2010 FIN - Helsinki - Dantes Highlight
11.10.2009 D - Hamburg - New Headbangers Ballroom
12.10.2010 FRA - Paris - La Scene Bastille
13.10.2010 FRA - Lyon - Marche Gare
14.10.2010 FRA - Mulhouse - Noumatrouf
15.10.2010 D - Speyer - Halle 101
04.12.2010 BEL - Kuuren – Hippodrom