Personal War>>PERZONAL WAR - GERMANY

Different But The Same – 2002 - AFM
Faces - 2004- AFM
When Times Turn Red – 2005 – AFM
Bloodline – 2008 - AFM
Captive Breeding – 2012 - Metalville
The Last Sunset – 2015 – Metalville
Inside The New Time Chaoz – 2016 – Metalville
Neckdevils – Live – 2018 – Metalville

Perzonal War image
  
 
Members
Vocals
Crossing Skulls>>MATTHIAS "METTI" ZIMMER>>Crossing Skulls

Guitar
Crossing Skulls>>MATTHIAS "METTI" ZIMMER>>Crossing Skulls - Crossing Skulls>>Sascha Kerschgens>>Crossing Skulls – Agrypnie, Architects Of Chaoz, Anomalie, Philosophobia>>ANDREAS BALLNUS>>Agrypnie, Architects Of Chaoz, Anomalie, Philosophobia


Bass
Frank Buchwalter>>Endart – Endart, Testicle Disease, Aardvarks, Syre>>Sven Krautkrämer – News At Six>>BJÖRN KLUTH>>News At Six

Drum
Squealer>>MARTIN BUCHWALTER>>Squealer





History & Biography
The Germany-based power metal act was Personal War only until 2002 before switching over and making it Perzonal due to legal pressure and contractual conflicts with B-Mind Records. The group was compared to Metallica. The first album with the new monciker was the appropriately-titled Different But The Same in 2002. The line-up here was the same as Personal War’s. Martin also joined Squealer. Faces was out in 2004 even though the previous album featured faces on the cover. Sven Krautkrämer was on bass here. The group toured with Blaze and Circle II Circle. He and Frank would both be Endart bassists at some point. Frank was considered not a good musician by the band. Björn Kluth joined for Bloodline. The band left AFM claiming it was a mutual decision between the band and label as AFM did not appreciate the group’s style and did not support it. Sascha left after this album. Acoustic & B-Side Breeding was an odds-and-ends demo in 2013. It was The Last Sunset, but Andreas Ballnus was there for it. Neckdevils – Live was recorded in Germany in 2016 and was a CD/DVD that commemorated the group’s twentieth anniversary. The band opened for Tankard in 2023 and was booked to open for a couple of cover bands in 2024.


Reviews

PERZONAL WAR - WHEN TIMES TURN RED - AFM  
Perzonal War has some potential and has chosen its best song as a single and video (For The Last Time), but putting one’s best foot forward does not translate into a good album necessarily. The aforementioned song is fairly interesting, although given its Nevermore influences is not quite representative of the Germans’ sound. Instead, Perzonal War’s When Times Turn Red draws influence from Metallica (yup, you can stop reading now) and new In Flames. The bulk of the album takes a turn for the worse and mixes metal with pop (5 More Days), mixes Metallica with some atmosphere (New Age), uses melodic guitars within the structure of a rock song (The Unbeliever) or just plain copies In Flames. Hell, there is even a song here called In Flames. What, no song called Metallica?
Other songs, like Hope Dies Last, are just sonic jumbles. This track sounds like a spoken word segment with some faint noise in the background. The heavier album closer is slightly chaotic and too insignificant to make up for the rest of When Times Turn Red. The album has turned out worse than my earlier impression and anticipation, although given the sketch on the cover why would that be a surprise? - Anna Tergel


Interviews







Perzonal War