In a new interview with Spain’s Stairway To Rock, PRIMAL FEAR bassist Mat Sinner reflected on the extreme adverse reaction to the COVID-19 vaccination he suffered in 2021, resulting in him receiving 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.
Sinner (a.k.a. Matthias Lasch),who also serves as PRIMAL FEAR‘s producer, said about his current health status (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): “Well, it will be never like it was before. I was having a very evil heart attack after the COVID injection. So the COVID injection destroyed my heart. So I was in a hospital for one year. And in the first month, I was in a coma. Then I was paralyzed. I couldn’t move my hands, my feet. I was three times reanimated. I was dead. They brought me back to life. And very, very slowly, some parts came back. First, my voice was coming back. My hands were moving, but my legs were not moving. So I was in a wheelchair for a longer time. From a wheelchair with a lot of training, I was able to go in such a machine — what you say with the old people, walking. I don’t know the English word, but you know what I mean… And then slowly, slowly, slowly it was getting better. But I could play bass and I could compose songs, but sitting in a chair, but not far away from walking on a stage. But the last year I made a very good progress so that some things are possible again, which were not possible one year ago. So when I was lying there alone, paralyzed somewhere, my biggest dream was to play one more show.”
Asked if he has any memories of the time he spent in a coma, Mat said: “Only stupid things. I got morphine, and I liked that. I had weird hallucinations. But that was not in heaven. No, no. I wasn’t there. So many people say, ‘Oh, I saw God’ or something like that. [I saw] nothing… Just stupid things.”
Regarding whether his health challenges served as a lyrical inspiration for PRIMAL FEAR‘s upcoming album, “Domination”, which will arrive on September 5 via Reigning Phoenix Music, Sinner said: “Well, if you read the lyrics of the new album very carefully, you will find some lines which are connected. But with the next album, I don’t write about this. I look into the future now. This is the most important thing for me.”
Joining Sinner and vocalist Ralf Scheepers 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.
“Domination” was recorded in autumn 2024, produced by Mat Sinner and co-produced by Ralf Scheepers as well as Magnus Karlsson. Rounded off by multiple PRIMAL FEAR mixing/mastering engineer Jacob Hansen at his own studios in Denmark, the album artwork was designed by Death.Milk.Designs.
PRIMAL FEAR‘s new lineup made its live debut on May 9 at the 2025 edition of the Rock In Rautheim festival in Braunschweig, Germany.
This September, PRIMAL FEAR will return to the live front with its longest European tour since 2018. Reigning Phoenix Music labelmates ELEINE have been confirmed as special guests.
In August 2024, guitarists Alex Beyrodt and Tom Naumann, drummer Michael Ehré and bassist Alex Jansen announced their departures from PRIMAL FEAR, insisting that their exit was “triggered by decisions within the band that we do not agree with” but claiming that “there was no argument or bad blood.”
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.
PRIMAL FEAR 2025 is:
Ralf Scheepers – vocals
Mat Sinner – bass, vocals
Magnus Karlsson – guitars
Thalìa Bellazecca – guitars
André Hilgers – drums
Photo credit: Heiko Roith
