PRIMAL FEAR + CHILDREN OF BODOM + SACRED STEEL
February 23, 2001
MADRID

February 23rd, 2001. With many expectations, the second tour of Primal Fear stopped at La Corte to give an incredible show, supported by Sacred Steel and Children Of Bodom. When I arrive at the venue (17:30 pm) nobody is there (except the guys from the bands), so I got a chance to attend the soundchecks. After a while some fans appear, many like myself who had traveled great distances to see this show.

Tour poster             Gerrit P. Mutz (Sacred Steel)

Finally the doors opened and the first band to perform is Germany's SACRED STEEL, which has a story dating back to the early nineties. Everyone was excited that the concert was finally starting. The band played a 7 song set and their performance lasted about 40 minutes. They presented some of their most recent songs first ("Metal Is War", "Blood On My Steel"...) from their latest album "Bloodlust" and they blew us away with their classic eighties Power Metal to full speed. "Dark Forces Lead Me To The Brimstone Gate", "Master Of Thy Fate" and "Stormhammer" were the next three songs, and they finished off their set with "True Force Of Iron Glory" from their first album "Reborn In Steel" and the title track "Wargods Of Metal" from their second album. Gerrit P. Mutz is a good performer on stage, he sang in an aggressive style and had a lot of crowd interaction. The sound wasn't very good but they were pretty cool, I think...

Alexi Laiho (Children Of Bodom)             Alexi Laiho (Children Of Bodom)

When Sacred Steel was done, CHILDREN OF BODOM's crew came on to sep-up the stage. The hall was dark as an introduction was made. In the darkness "the children" walked out onto the stage. Their concert started with "Hate Me!" followed by "Bodom After Midnight" from the album "Follow The Reaper". The strongest tunes were "Kissing The Shadows", "Towards Dead End" and "Silent Night, Bodom Night". I enjoyed these songs so much more performed live and they absolutely smoked it Friday night. Fantastic. "Everytime I Die" really blew me and the crowd away... again all the guys did an amazing job. They also played songs like "Mask Of Sanity", "Warheart", "Children Of Bodom" and "Downfall". The band was awesome!! They worked extremely well together. Singer/guitarist Alexi Laiho did a great job, with power and fury in both his voice and his guitar playing (as usual his solos were spectacular), the rhythm section was tight tight tight and Janne Warman was tearing it up on the keyboards. The band really gets wild on stage. The audience was simply amazed by how good Children of Bodom sounded and was really into the show jumping around and headbanging. I thought I might be experiencing my first earth quake as the venue shook with the excitement. I saw Children of Bodom for the first time live and I must say it won't be the last time because I found them fantastic.

Janne Warman (Children Of Bodom)             Ralf Scheepers (Primal Fear)

After a break of 15-20 minutes and an introduction, PRIMAL FEAR came on stage at about 22:40 pm, with the fans screaming loudly. Primal Fear was absolutely brilliant. Their show was a lesson in classic Heavy Metal and the band seemed to love every second of the perfomance. The stage had a cool setting with an eagle in the back and pretty good lightning and pyros. The show started with "Angel In Black" from their latest album "Nuclear Fire". "Running In The Dust" was one of the absolute highlights of the show. The crowd and the band hit a new peak with this one.

Mat Sinner (Primal Fear)             Stefan Leibing (Primal Fear)

I have never heard anything like it. The band was enthusiastically received from the very beginning. The music was excellent and Ralf’s vocals were unbelievable! We saw his unlimited vocal potential during songs such as "Chainbreaker", another crowd favorite, everyone was singing and having a good time.

Stefan & Mat (Primal Fear)

Regarding the new songs, "Nuclear Fire" is an outstanding song, one that really captured me when I first heard it and sounded pretty good performed live. The entire set was very good, featuring their best songs: "Play To Kill", "Now Or Never", "Church Of Blood", "Battalions Of Hate", "Fight The Fire", "Eye Of An Eagle" and "Silver And Gold" among others. They played a cover version of the classic "(You've Got) Another Thing Comin'" from Judas Priest, that really got the crowd singing. The new gutarist Henny Wolter did a fabulous guitar solo. You could hear the reaction from the crowd and we all just looked at each other in a daze thinking "Hey, this guy is good!" Also drummer Klaus Sperling did a drum solo and it was great too. Mat Sinner was in top form and he also sang additional vocals. All the members did an excellent work... they're a true metal machine. All in all, a great show and excellent musicianship. Don't miss them! -Review & photos by Marina-


MORE PICS...


Mathias & Gerrit & me
Mathias & Gerrit (Sacred Steel) & me

Alexi & me
Alexi (Children Of Bodom) & me

Stefan Leibing & me
Stefan (Primal Fear) & me

Ralf & me
Ralf (Primal Fear) & me