UMUR
"Primordial Fear" is the debut full-length studio album by Danish, Frederikshavn based death metal act Chronicle. The album was independently released in November 2015. It succeeds the "Welcome the Darkness" EP from July 2014, which was the band´s first official release.
Chronicle´s core melodic death metal style with occasional thrash metal leanings is intact on "Primordial Fear" although the pace has generally been increased, which was a good choice as the higher tempos provide the music with more power and drive. Chronicle still understand that variation is the key though and the tracks always feature different tempi (also slower parts) and atmosphere enhancing lead guitar work, to ensure that the tracks are kept interesting. The vocals are blackened snarling and the sandpaper raw delivery works well with the instrumental part of the band´s music.
The sound production is not perfect, but it´s of a pretty decent quality. The drums sound a little thin and there are a few other details which could have been better, but it is a step up from the production on "Welcome the Darkness" and if it was a goal to move forward and produce something better both in terms of production values, songwriting, and more tight performances, Chronicle have certainly succeeded in doing just that with "Primordial Fear". It´s not the most unique sounding melodic death metal release, but it´s a solid release which is enjoyable from start to end. A 3 - 3.5 star (65%) rating is warranted.