PRIMAL FEAR's MAT SINNER To Miss South American Shows Due To Injury; GAMMA RAY's DIRK SCHLÄCHTER To Fill In

PRIMAL FEAR bassist Mat Sinner will miss the band's upcoming shows in South America after he suffered a nasty injury during the group's concert in London, United Kingdom in early March. Filling in for him will be GAMMA RAY's Dirk Schlächter

PRIMAL FEAR released the following message via social media on Wednesday, April 8: "An important message to all our fans about the South American tour. Sadly we have to tell you that Mat won't be able to join the band on the forthcoming shows in Argentina and Brazil. Mat lost a fight against a drumriser in London and slashed his right leg in a very evil way. After some more shows the doctors in Norway planned to have a surgery on his leg because the infection was already on a bad level and to prevent a sepsis. Mat is now at home and needs to recover for another 3-4 weeks to avoid any operation. Doctors say it would be a huge risk to sit in a plane for 15 hours — health comes first.

"This wasn't an easy decision. We know many of you were looking forward to seeing us together on stage and Mat is truly sorry for any disappointment this may cause. We promise to give 200% on the shows and Mat will be replaced by GAMMA RAY's Dirk Schlächter.

"Thank you for your understanding, your patience, belief and faith."

Sinner (a.k.a. Matthias Lasch),who also serves as PRIMAL FEAR's producer, reportedly suffered an extreme adverse reaction to the COVID-19 vaccination in 2021 and received treatment for eight months at various hospitals. As a result of Sinner's health challenges, PRIMAL FEAR canceled all of its planned shows in 2021 and 2022, eventually recruiting Alex Jansen as Mat's temporary replacement.

In August 2024, PRIMAL FEAR split with guitarists Alex Beyrodt and Tom Naumann, drummer Michael Ehré and touring bassist Alex Jansen. Joining Sinner and Ralf Scheepers (vocals) in PRIMAL FEAR's current lineup are the band's latest additions, Italian/Cuban sensation Thalìa Bellazecca (ANGUS MCSIX, ex-FROZEN CROWN) on guitar and André Hilgers (AXXIS, RAGE, SILENT FORCE, SINNER, BONFIRE) on drums. Also appearing with the group is Swedish guitarist Magnus Karlsson, who has been primarily a studio member of the band for much of the past decade but who has now rejoined PRIMAL FEAR's touring lineup.

PRIMAL FEAR's latest album, "Domination", came out last September via Reigning Phoenix Music. The LP stormed the various album charts around the globe once again, with a major highlight being PRIMAL FEAR's fourth German Top 10 entry in a row, rounded off by a series of impressive numbers in other European countries as well as in the U.S. and Japan.

"Domination" was recorded at Dennis Ward's Kangaroo Studios (HELLOWEEN, ANGRA) in autumn 2024, produced by Mat Sinner and co-produced by Ralf Scheepers as well as Magnus Karlsson. It was completed by longtime PRIMAL FEAR mixing/mastering engineer Jacob Hansen (AMORPHIS, VOLBEAT) at his own studios in Denmark. The album artwork was designed by Death.Milk.Designs.

Formed by Sinner in 1997 as an outlet for Scheepers (who had left GAMMA RAY and was a rumored candidate for the then-open JUDAS PRIEST vocal spot, but was considering early retirement from metal),PRIMAL FEAR has emerged as one of the most consistent European metal bands, rarely straying from its core PRIEST-styled power metal sound.