Ralf Scheepers has done something I never thought he would do, and that is to release a solo album. I guess he has a more to say than what can be said with just one band. I love the guy's voice. He was once considered to be a replacement vocalist for JUDAS PRIEST and HELLOWEEN at one point before joining GAMMA RAY and then his current band, PRIMAL FEAR. The result isn't that bad. The first song, "Locked in the Dungeon" is absolutely killer. Ralf shows how great his vocals range is. He can be a tad raspy and very high pitched when he wants to. He reminds me of Tim Owens, who quite ironically is on the album singing a "duet" with Mr. Scheepers called "Remission of Sin". It is a great song. It's not every day you get two vocalists that talented on one song.
It was noted in the bio sheet that Ralf used some songs that didn't make it on other albums.The most obvious one to me must be the ballad, "Before the Dawn". I can see why all the bands he has been in would not want to use that song. Not because it isn't a good song, but GAMMA RAY and PRIMAL FEAR are not well known for their ballads. "Play with Fire" is my favorite track on the album. It's fast as a shark. (No ACCEPT jokes please). I really don't see how it wasn't good enough to make on other albums. "Compassion" is another ballad, it has Banjos on it. Now I know for a fact why that one didn't cut the mustard. Save me from Banjos Dear Lord!
Most of the songs are mid tempo and true to all the songs he has done in the past with his other bands. It's worth buying if you are a fan of Ralf himself; maybe not so much if you are just a heavy metal fan. I think you have to like the man on his own merits to warrant a purchase. I tend to find that many solo albums done by musicians that do clubs and not arenas are done strictly because the artist is exactly that, an artist, and they do what all artists do, they create. Take Alice Cooper for example. The man hasn't had a gold album in decades, but he keeps making them in a quick and steady fashion for the love of the music. I believe this is the case here as well. I don't think Ralf expects this album to debut at number one.
Overall, this is a good album. Ralf delivers with a variety of music you may have never known he possessed. The mix of fast and slow leans towards, the mid tempo range. Ralf is a huge talent and doesn't get the respect he deserves. That may change with this new album so if you are a fan of Ralf the man and not just the bands he has fronted, go out and buy the album.
Ralf Scheepers has made quite a name for himself in PRIMAL FEAR, it is almost easy to forget that he was also the singer in GAMMA RAY for a while. He auditioned for both HELLOWEEN and JUDAS PRIEST, but was not chosen either time. That almost seems irrelevant at this point, as PRIMAL FEAR can be considered to be among the upper pantheon of European Power Metal bands.
I was surprised to hear that Scheepers was doing a solo album, especially when I heard that PRIMAL FEAR band-mate Mat Sinner was also a part of Scheeper's solo band (as is band-mate Magnus Karlsson). What is the point of doing a solo album if it sounds exactly like your other band? And sound like PRIMAL FEAR this does, although a more purified version of PRIMAL FEAR, back before the industrial and ambient influences crept into their music. However, the "Painkiller"-clone sounds from around the turn of the millennium are largely absent in favor of a more groove-based sound. I guess this gives Scheepers a chance to be the main focus of the songs.
The songs are generally varied and show about as much range as one can expect from Ralf Scheepers. Despite his tough-guy appearance on the cover with his shaved head, muscles and tattoo, he can still sound a bit whiny and off-key at times. This is really nothing new, and it is nowhere near as bad as some of the stuff he did with GAMMA RAY. The press release compares him to Dio, Halford and Ian Gillan, and even though he can sound reminiscent of those greats at times, he comes nowhere close to matching their level of mastery.
Thankfully he chose wisely with his backing band although, as mentioned before, ½ are band-mates in PRIMAL FEAR. They are definitely competent and provide solid support, while stepping up when necessary. There are also a fair number of guests, probably the most effective being Kai Hansen, who does a solo on "The Pain of the Accursed." Kudos for the cover of JUDAS PRIEST's "Before the Dawn," where Scheepers plays all of the instruments except for the solo, which was done by Victor Smolski.
The only real clunker on here is "
Cyberworld," which takes shots at internet nerds that hit about as hard as his voice does (which is not very), along with some cliché electronically altered vocals. Closer "
Compassion" is pretty weak, and not every song leaves any sort of impact. For the most part, however, "
Scheepers" is an admirable effort and it certainly justifies its existence. For fans of classic heavy metal or power metal this is definitely recommended.
- Lior "Steinmetal" Stein: 9/10
Ralf Scheepers, what more can be told about the powerful high-pitch screamer? Once he was nominated for JUDAS PRIEST and HELLOWEEN, officially was presented to the Metal world through his debut band TYRAN'S PACE, the first vocalist of Kai Hansen'sGAMMA RAY and the co-founder of the dominant monster of PRIMAL FEAR. With all those prospects behind this man, doesn't he deserve a solo career? Since 2007, Scheepers along with his peer on PRIMAL FEAR, Mat Sinner, were working on the progress of a full lengthSCHEEPERS album. With the assistance of some major powerhouse players of the European Metal scene as Magnus Karlsson (Guitars), Snowy Shaw (Drums) and Sander Gommans (Guitars) and along the high quality production by the pair Achim Kohler & Mat Sinner, who also played Bass & Keys on the album, this debut is a proud Heavy Metal success.
Scheepers through his solo effort tried to be diverse while not showing only the powerful side of PRIMAL FEAR. Generally, over the years, the vocalist structured a selection of songs that attempted not be directly connected to PRIMAL FEAR but rather to reach out to new horizons. Through his sweeping and flowing music, I felt, a pretty obvious, deep dedication to the 80s classic Metal, especially the German scene, which was very prosperous in that period of time. The intensity of both styles of riffages, acoustic and electric, shared the same power. The mixture of those styles together crafted a release, which is heavy and frenzied, yet, with a finishing finer edge, which was made to be quite emotive. As for similarities, there are more than enough reminders of famous local acts as ACCEPT, SINNER, PRIMAL FEAR, GAMMA RAY andHELLOWEEN. In addition, Scheepers didn't forget to pay tribute or add a few elements that made several tunes kindred to other European Metal icons such as JUDAS PRIEST, not considering the cover for the band's "Before The Dawn", and HALFORD. In the bottom line, this is high quality Heavy Metal, whether with modern elements or the help of the old school feel.
What I found striking, in comparison to other great release that I heard recently is how the production crew, Sinner & Kohler, adjusted the sound and aura with high rated accordance to Scheepers's compositions. Almost every single track here has to a certain degree different sound setting may it be hard breaking Heavy Metal or a bit of a Hard Rock thrill. Some of the greatest hits out of this album stand tall with that amazing synergy: The opening PRIMAL FEAR / HALFORD like "Locked In The Dungeon", featuring Metal Mike, the axeman of Rob Halford, which sound as if it was taken from PRIMAL FEAR's third album, "Nuclear Fire"; The following track of "Remission Of Sin", that with a twist of the 80s, al'aACCEPT, brought two high pitch giants, Scheepers and Tim "Ripper' Owens, in a screamy duet from hell; "Doomsday" and "Pain Of The Accused" were some of the special moments on this debut, those present the other side of Scheepers that summed up his entire experience as a composer, a lot of energy and emotions were invested on those two. Furthermore, Scheepers made a remake of a classic tune taken from his earlier years on TYRAN'S PACE, "Saints Of Rock" (from the album "Watching You" from 1986), which is an essential German Metal anthem to every Metalhead worldwide.
Scheepers's debut solo album is must for anyone who cherishes Heavy Metal. With an experience that has been on and going for almost 30 years, the expectation out of this album was immense and as big as the expectation, the quality of the result was crucial. To us, the fans, there is a fortune as Scheepers didn't let down. He knew exactly how to rally up all types of Metalheads under his wing with a magnificent selection of songs. His label, Frontiers Records based in Italy that helped Scheepers initiate the process, are very fortunate to have him, as they already have PRIMAL FEAR in their roster.
