'Seven Seals' marks the sixth studio album for 'Primal Fear' and a surprisingly swift follow-up to 2004's punishing Power Metal gem 'Devil's Ground'. I did have pre-release concerns about this album as the band stated this would be more experimental than previous work and as we all know this can end in disastrous results. I should however have taken into account the calibre of artists who comprise 'Primal Fear' and had more faith, as this is another brilliant release for these Teutonic Power Metal maestro's. As far as experimentation goes, this is only with regards to the song writing and production, which is notably more mature than any previous album, musically this isn't as consistently punishing as say 'Nuclear Fire' or 'Devil's Ground', but rest assured this is still one uncompromising album.

'Seven Seals' opens in fine form with the hard hitting 'Demons and Angels', a quality rocker well within the classic 'Primal Fear' mould, that's upheld with relentless rhythm, class guitaring and clever symphonic instrumental work mid track. Arguably even better is the brisk ripper 'Rollercoaster' which oozes quality right from the off, the rhythm ebbs and flows throughout, while the slashing fret work is divine, all this is topped off with 'Ralf Scheepers' striking vocals which helps make this just one of many gems. The tempo falls for the beautifully written and performed title track 'Seven Seals' and while not your typical 'Primal Fear' cut still an absolute cracker, 'Ralf Scheepers' again sounds stunning, while the instrumental support is as always top notch. The ethereal introduction to 'Evil Spell' leaves you off balance as the tempo goes through the roof for one of 'Primal Fear's' briskest ever tracks, lyrically pretty simple, but while brisk to the extreme, still maintains melody and is subsequently graced with a guitar solo that just annihilates. Not quite so punishing but still well within the Power Metal genre is 'The Immortal Ones' and while a fairly run-of-the-mill affair for 'Primal Fear', lacks the creativity of most other tracks found on this album. The complete opposite can be said for the epic 'Diabolus' (No it's not a spell from Harry Potter!) a more subdued sounding song, not the type you would expect from this band, but it's just magnificently written and performed, the whole band just play out of their skins for yet another jewel. Next up is 'All for One' which follows a similar format to 'Evil Spell', subtle intro only to pick up pace, this time however the song develops much further embracing some marvellous instrumental passages, perhaps a tad longwinded in places at over 8 minutes but another excellent cut which displays how much development the band has made since 'Devils Ground'. It's back to the short and sweet with the aggressive ripper 'Carniwar' not one of the finest songs they have ever penned, but it's direct and effective, the chorus is a bit mediocre however it's shrewdly executed. 'Question of Honour' ensues, but wait a second, haven't I heard this song before? Damn right I have it's from 'Sinner's' 'The Nature of Evil', first and foremost this is an excellent version, but the big question is why? they should have included this as a bonus track and replaced it with the exceptional 'Higher Power' in my opinion. Last up is the beautifully sung ballad 'In Memory', not quite the sort of song I was expecting to close the album, but a nicely accomplished piece.

If you're lucky enough to pick up the DigiPac version of 'Seven Seals' you can enjoy the two bonus tracks. The first of which 'The Union' is a decent steady plodder, plenty of melody, good lyrics and all backed up by a hearty chorus. The second 'Higher Power' is well worth album status, this chorus heavy gem is catchy, graced with deft fret work and upheld by some fine head-swaying rhythm.

'Seven Seals' just confirms how brilliant 'Primal Fear' are, forever dubbed as 'Priest' rip-offs, they have developed their sound and come up with a fresh sounding album that blows all else asunder.