Primal Fear Interview

Primal Fear have really taken flight with their superb new effort, "Seven Seals." The band opted for an even heavier sound this time around, but at the same time, their music is as intensely melodic and accessible as ever. Vying to break away from the power metal pack and step directly into the mainstream heavy metal limelight, the band step things up a notch on this exciting new record. Ralf Scheepers talks about the making of the new album and more in the following conversation


The Gauntlet: Were you deliberately trying to do something differently with the new record than what you had done in the past?

Ralf Scheepers: We just wanted to push our sounds into a bit more artistic direction. With three songs that are lasting more than seven minutes, it's a bit of a new direction for Primal Fear, we didn't have that before. So, we really concentrated on writing songs and doing something that was a step forward from what we had done before in terms of orchestration.


The Gauntlet: What was the recording process like for you this time around?

Ralf Scheepers: On one hand, it was easy and on one hand, it was hard for me. For example, it was the first time that the guys tuned down the guitars on every song and my ear tuning was confused at the beginning of that, into the rehearsing phase. But we got over that and going in to pre-recordings, I found that it suits me pretty good.

The Gauntlet: Once you were used to singing in the lower tuning, did you feel that you were able to adjust your voice to the point where you could do more with your range?


Ralf Scheepers: Exactly. This time, you'll hear that I do more with the down range, the low vocals and it fits pretty good, because then you can set some more high notes as a special thing. On the previous albums I was somewhat in the higher register all the time, so it was nothing special that here and there, a scream came out, but this time, you have these lower vocals and low arrangements, so maybe the screams just stand out a little bit more.

The Gauntlet: The title track is especially powerful. How did this song come about for the band?


Ralf Scheepers: Well, the thing is that Matt wrote it together with a guy from Sweden. The story is about Revelations, in the bible, and you can get a lot of good inspiration for lyrics from the bible, you get a lot of good stories. So Matt got together with this guy called Milanouvich, this guy is a composer, he has also worked with Hammerfall, they did a project together. Matt got to know him when he was involved with the project. They just wanted to get together and do something and that is what came out as the song "Seven Seals." Anyway, we had done it different on demo, but now we have really put into Primal Fear.


The Gauntlet: Many have already hailed this record as the band's most solid achievement to date. What were you thinking when the record was finished and you heard the final product?


Ralf Scheepers: The whole recording phase was totally different this time with Charlie. He is really going for it and every notch has to be right. It's very much that he's a perfectionist and this only helps us. Really, the first time when the guitar riffs were recorded, he just tuned during the guitars to the tune that Stefan was playing because the low string is detuning from hitting, so it is getting a notch lower from what the tune should be. We have a much more clean sound. That's what happened with every instrument. He was really involved when Randy recorded the drums; it was just amazing how exactly Charlie did everything with the record. You really hear that it was good material on the hard disc and he made the band dominant, man, it was a great mix also. He worked such a long time on the album; it's pretty hard to judge, in the end, if it is really good. Of course, we knew that it was good, but after so long, you really can't judge anymore (after hearing it in the studio so much). So, we had to bring it out for the people and that's what we did in Vancouver, invited some press people and friends of Randy and band members, and we made a small listening session there. And, they were overwhelmed by the stuff; this is the first time when we knew that we had made the right thing.

The Gauntlet: "Diabolus" was a very extensive track to the band to record. There's so much going on with that track. Was that song in particular challenging to record?

Ralf Scheepers: There's a lot of keyboard work on there as you can here, so everything is based on the atmosphere. Actually, the spoken part in the middle, I did it from the pre-recordings, I did it here at home, right here where I speak. I did it on Cubase and we didn't record that part again in the studio because it was so original, I couldn't repeat it anymore. We have to really keep original stuff; you have to keep the first, honest thing when you record.


The Gauntlet: Do you feel that many times your first takes turn out to be your best?


Ralf Scheepers: Sometimes, when you do those pre-recordings, you cannot make it better in the studio. So many times when you listen to it dry and you listen to it on hard disc, without any effects, what you did, then you know that in the studio, it's going to be better. It's always pretty hard to judge when you have the whole tracks of the songs together and when you listen to them solo. The quality is much better in the studio, of course, because there are much better instruments and better microphones and so on. In the end, it can be a struggle between your originality and a good sound, which is always going on between pre-recording and recording in the studio.


The Gauntlet: What is the main thing that you want long time fans of the group to take away from this record?

Ralf Scheepers: Of course, they will hear that we have evolved a bit into a more epic direction, into a little bit darker place, from downtuning and from my singing as well. But, the thing is, I'm pretty sure that they will like this album. If you listen to the opener, "Demons And Angels", this is pretty much 100% Primal Fear originality, so of course, we're gonna please them with that stuff. You know, when you do an album, first of all, of course, you think about your fans, but your original intention is to please yourself. If you're satisfied, you can be pretty sure that the fans will love it too.


The Gauntlet: What is the touring agenda for the band for the remainder of this year and into 2006?

Ralf Scheepers: Well, first of all, we are going to tour starting the 29th of November with Helloween, starting in Europe and Scandinavia. We're going all over Europe and then we will have a Christmas break and we will be touring in January again. We'll hit Japan and then we will hit South America and into North America, but that is not really sure yet.


The Gauntlet: Primal Fear does really well in South America, is that correct?

Ralf Scheepers: Yeah, yeah it's a good scene in Brazil and Argentina and also Mexico and so on. There's a good heavy metal scene there.


The Gauntlet: What do you see as the catalyst that will bring the music of Primal Fear before the American market this time around?

Ralf Scheepers: Well, I know that it is pretty important to play live in order to sell albums there. You know, it's pretty hard for me to judge because I am so far away from the American market, but I am pretty sure that this genre, the way we play music can have success in America. It only has to be spread more in the radio and the press and so on. It's a huge country. We have played some festivals there and it is always good to do the festivals in America. But I think if you come up with a solo show, you're going to have a pretty hard time. You kind of have to go as a package, like three or four bands of the same genre. For example, the Halford tour that we did, the Halford tour in 2003, it was a package so you really get some people there. Sometimes, when bands go alone or even with two bands, it can be very hard there to go two or three months. You play clubs and maybe there are not a lot of people coming. Some bands have died over there, they came back to Europe and they went their separate ways, because it is hard, really hard.


The Gauntlet: What can the fans expect from you live?

Ralf Scheepers: I think it's more of a visual thing, but of course, there is a concentration on the music and that's why we rehearse and we bring it over as good as we can. I can only say that we are pretty honest. You can really feel when the band has a bad day and you can feel it when the band has a good day. Since Randy came in the band and kicked us in the ass with a hell of a rhythm that he always hits, we have really good shows as a band. Not to talk bad about our former drummer, he was a good drummer too, but sometimes you need a kick in the ass and that's what Randy has done for us. People can really expect honesty and roughness from us from the stage.


The Gauntlet: Tell us about how the band's chemistry comes together to form the cohesive unit that is Primal Fear.

Ralf Scheepers: We're now together with Mat and Tom and Stefan came together with us a bit later. We are really close as a band; we went through so much shit and so many good times, as well. Somehow, you really meld together with that. We can say that we are not only band members, that we really are friends. So I think that chemistry is more than healthy. Especially these days, we get really good reviews of the "Seven Seals" album, it's the reward of the work that we did in the studio and really concentrating on doing the best that we can do. You can really say that at the moment, we have a really high life going on.


The Gauntlet: Do you feel that at this point, your band is in the prime of its career?

Ralf Scheepers: Yeah, I think so.


The Gauntlet: Are there any certain things that you have consciously done to ensure that Primal Fear will be a band that will be remembered by fans for a long time to come?

Ralf Scheepers: Well the thing is that, in my opinion, you have to stick together. I've been doing this for more than twenty years now. I have had the fortune that I have been in bands where we were together for a long time. For example, Gamma Ray was only five years, but now, with Primal Fear, it is seven years. I think legend is always pretty hard to achieve. You must play together and stick together as a band and play really good music. I don't know if a band can be legendary in modern times, I think that legends stopped with bands like Deep Purple, Black Sabbath and Judas Priest. There's so much from bands these days, good bands and they might have been legends had they come out twenty years ago, but I think there's so many offerings from bands these days that it is hard to speak about legends anymore.


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Tags:  Primal fear  , Ralf Scheepers, interviews

EF    October 01, 2005