Primal Fear - Seven Seals (2005)

After a bit of a slip into mediocrity, Primal Fear return to form with maybe their best album to date, helped by that good old standby of heavy metal, the apocalypse.
The band sounds revitalised here as they sing of the battle between Heaven and Hell (including how, supposedly, some demons are not really evil, but just under evil spells), taken from the Book of Revelation, highlights including the opening "Angels And Demons", the title song, which is a slow piece, but a good one, and the roaring "Carniwar". The extravagent "Diabolus" is pretty decent too, although a couple of the other songs (like "All For One") go on for a bit too long.
Featuring touches of orchestration here and there, giving the band a slightly different sound than normal, SEVEN SEALS doesn't re-invent the wheel or anything, but it is good, solid heavy metal, from a group who has rediscovered their life and passion.

***1/2