Magnus Karlsson joins Primal Fear

[mel_progson]

Oooooh im a huge Magnus Karlsson fanboy. Last Tribe is a huge fave of mine, think im gonna have to start paying closer attention to Primal Fear from now on....

German power metallers PRIMAL FEAR, who yesterday announced that guitarist Stefan Leibing was leaving the band in order to focus on family life, have issued the following update:

"We've decided to continue with one of the most exciting and respected guitar player in the business — Magnus Karlsson from Sweden. Magnus is known from his excellent work as a guitarist, songwriter and producer for ALLEN/LANDE, MAGNUM's BOB CATLEY, STARBREAKER and many more. We're looking forward to hit the road again with a special best-of setlist and Magnus will be an additional attraction for the shows. It looks like we're planning to get back into the recording studio after the summer festival season to work on a new album!"

PRIMAL FEAR singer Ralf Scheepers comments: "After working together with Magnus on several songs for our previous albums 'Seven Seals' and 'New Religion', it's more than a pleasure to have him in the band now. In my ears he is one of the most talented guitarists on this planet and he is also an excellent composer. I absolutely look forward to rock the stages of this world with him!"

Magnus Karlsson added: "I've been a big fan of PRIMAL FEAR since I first heard them. I love their straight-forward metal in combination with beautiful melodies and a world-class musicianship. That's why I'm both honoured and excited to join PRIMAL FEAR on their mission to show the world that metal is forever!"

 

[J-Man]

Now this is awesome news, I am a huge Magnus Karlsson fan. Can't wait to see this line-up or hear a CD with Magnus.

 

[rockyracoon]

Wow. Couldn't have imagined a better person to fill the spot. Hopefully he is able to make a full time commitment to PF.

 

[Bryan316]

Well! WELL WELL WELL!!!

I cannot see any flaws in this combination. METAL IS FOREVAAAAAAA!!!!

 

[Heavenly Call]

Posted from the FIRST time this news came up in the Stefan leaving thread:

Blessing and a curse to me. While I'm quite happy that Magnus will be in PF, I'm not happy that this will mean fewer projects for him (at least for the forseeable future). I love all of his melodic metal projects - Last Tribe, Planet Alliance, Starbreaker, Allen/Lande, etc and I'd like to see more of those. Hopefully he'll still find time for those. Love his playing!

 

[Valarien]

Wow. Couldn't have imagined a better person to fill the spot.

 

[adaher]

You know I figured this might happen, but I hope it won't interfere with Karlsson's other projects. I don't think he'll be as good in Primal Fear as he is doing work for solo artists.

The only other time he wasn't the main songwriter was in Midnight Sun and I don't think that band was very remarkable.

 

[Iced Dog]

Wow, that's a serious high-quality addition to the Primal Fear machine...it'll be interesting to see how his compositional skills will be utilized on future albums

 

[adaher]

Does it really fit the Primal Fear sound though?

My fear is that either Primal Fear will change drastically, or Karlsson will just be a guitarist. That would be a supreme waste of his talent.

I love Karlsson and Primal Fear, but I'm not sure that's a good marriage. I think it may end up diminishing both.

 

[VenomGA]

Excellent addition to the Primal Fear family!

 

[Iced Dog]

Does it really fit the Primal Fear sound though?

My fear is that either Primal Fear will change drastically, or Karlsson will just be a guitarist. That would be a supreme waste of his talent.

I love Karlsson and Primal Fear, but I'm not sure that's a good marriage. I think it may end up diminishing both.

Those are legitimate points, but for me personally, I prefer the growth and diversification PF has shown on their last two albums...so in lieu of that, I welcome the addition. As for being a waste of his talent, I doubt Magnus will give up on his other projects...at least I hope not.

 

[7thSaviour]

Oooooh im a huge Magnus Karlsson fanboy. Last Tribe is a huge fave of mine, think im gonna have to start paying closer attention to Primal Fear from now on....

German power metallers PRIMAL FEAR, who yesterday announced that guitarist Stefan Leibing was leaving the band in order to focus on family life, have issued the following update:

"We've decided to continue with one of the most exciting and respected guitar player in the business — Magnus Karlsson from Sweden. Magnus is known from his excellent work as a guitarist, songwriter and producer for ALLEN/LANDE, MAGNUM's BOB CATLEY, STARBREAKER and many more. We're looking forward to hit the road again with a special best-of setlist and Magnus will be an additional attraction for the shows. It looks like we're planning to get back into the recording studio after the summer festival season to work on a new album!"

PRIMAL FEAR singer Ralf Scheepers comments: "After working together with Magnus on several songs for our previous albums 'Seven Seals' and 'New Religion', it's more than a pleasure to have him in the band now. In my ears he is one of the most talented guitarists on this planet and he is also an excellent composer. I absolutely look forward to rock the stages of this world with him!"

Magnus Karlsson added: "I've been a big fan of PRIMAL FEAR since I first heard them. I love their straight-forward metal in combination with beautiful melodies and a world-class musicianship. That's why I'm both honoured and excited to join PRIMAL FEAR on their mission to show the world that metal is forever!"

Welcome, MK! Awesome news!rock: Best of luck to SL!

 

[Sumeet]

Does it really fit the Primal Fear sound though?

My fear is that either Primal Fear will change drastically, or Karlsson will just be a guitarist. That would be a supreme waste of his talent.

I love Karlsson and Primal Fear, but I'm not sure that's a good marriage. I think it may end up diminishing both.

Those are legitimate points, but for me personally, I prefer the growth and diversification PF has shown on their last two albums...so in lieu of that, I welcome the addition. As for being a waste of his talent, I doubt Magnus will give up on his other projects...at least I hope not.

I think this statement posted on the Primal Fear website might be of interest:

"After working together with Magnus on several songs for our previous albums „Seven Seals“ and “New Religion”, it’s more than a pleasure to have him in the band now. In my ears he is one of the most talented guitarists on this planet and he is also an excellent composer. I absolutely look forward to rock the stages of this world with him!"

I hadn't previously been aware that Karlsson was involved with the last 2 Primal Fear albums, but this statement from Scheepers seems to be a fairly clear indication that Karlsson will not be "just a guitarist", and that there will not be a drastic change to the band's sound. If anything, the change came between Devil's Ground and Seven Seals... and while it was a noticeable change, I wouldn't exactly call it "drastic".

 

[adaher]

But I do think it was for the better. More melodic.

 

[Sumeet]

But I do think it was for the better. More melodic.

Agreed... I mean, I've been following Primal Fear since even before their first album came out. But I have to admit that by the time Devil's Ground was released, things were getting a bit stale. When they were working on Seven Seals (actually, even before they started work on it), they had mentioned that they were "reworking their sound", or something along those lines. People were a bit concerned about what this might mean, but I think when people heard Seven Seals, any fears were put to rest. Adding Karlsson's melodic sensibility to Sinner's classic-metal bombast made for a kickass disc, that really reinvigorated the band IMO. I haven't picked up New Religion yet for some reason, but I will soon.

 

[adaher]

It's interesting that they didn't really hype Karlsson's contribution to the songwriting. I don't think they mentioned anything about him for Seven Seals and for this one they just said he contributed a couple of solos.

 

[7thSaviour]

I LOVE their "new" sound on NR. It's like Priest meets Queensryche. Very cool.