Redeemer of souls --- Judas Priest --- 2014 (Epic)
I have to admit it: I’m no fan of Judas Priest. When Bruce was shaking his locks all over the TOTP stage screaming “Run to the hills”, I looked at Halford and thought “The guy’s got short hair! If you’re in a metal band you HAVE to have LONG hair!” Hey, give me a break: I was like sixteen at the time. So that was my reason for shutting Priest out of my metal life, and not listening to anything by them --- though I did of course get exposed to “Breaking the law” and “United” via the charts --- until ast year, when I shamefacedly admitted I really should have listened to “British steel” before I hit my fifties…
I still haven’t listened to any of their other albums --- no time y’see --- but couldn’t really let the release of their latest album be ignored in Metal Month, so this is only the second Priest album I’ll have heard. Hey! Keep that tar away from me! And what’s with the feathers guys? Guys?
The first album without legendary guitarist, songwriter and co-founder KK Downing, this is Priest’s seventeenth album, and it’s pretty crazy to think they started back in 1969, like, ten YEARS before the NWOBHM and a decade before anyone had even heard of Iron Maiden, even in the little clubs. Certainly survivors of the movement that swept so many new bands into the gutters of history, Priest no doubt looked on with the nodding or shaking head of the wise old veteran as these new young guns rose, fell, rose, fell. They’d seen it all before, and did not feel their throne was threatened. In that. they may later have discovered they had underestimated at least one of the bands, who went on to dominate world Metal and eclipsed the old campaigners in just about every area.
But undaunted by the pretenders to their crown scaling the charts and amassing an army of followers across the globe, Judas Priest have continued on a slow and steady path to Metal glory. They haven’t had the chart successes of Maiden, but they’re just as popular and they probably always will be. To underline that, this, their first album in six years, went to number six in the coveted Billboard US charts, number 12 in the UK and took the top slot in the US Rock AND Hard Rock charts, as well as the UK Rock and Metal Charts.
With the ominous sound of approaching thunder, “Dragonaut” kicks into life on the back of new guitarist Richie Faulkner’s axe allied to that of mainstay Glenn Tipton, before Rob Halford’s by-now familiar growl leaves us in no doubt that one of the oldest Metal bands in the world are back! Fretburning solos are the order of the day, and there’s little time to catch your breath as we hurtle on into the title track. It’s a real anthem, swaggering along with a studded, leather-clad fist punching the air, great interplay between the two guitarists. It would of course be wrong of me to say there’s a Maiden influence on the song (though there is) as I know Priest were going long before Bruce, or even Paul, and the boys, so I’ll just say I can see where both Maiden and Manowar got their inspiration, and it’s pretty evident in this track, which could grace any album by either band.
Speaking of Manowar, as I said I know little about Priest, but I don’t think they generally favoured songs about mythology prior to this, so the next three tracks really are something of a surprise, lyrical contentwise. “Halls of Valhalla” recounts the raids by the Vikings, hoping to die in glorious battle and so be admitted into the houses of the brave. With a big chunky guitar fading in it gives a real epic feel, then changes as the guitar becomes a standard hard metal one, Halford letting out a mighty roar worthy of Eric Adams himself, Tipton going wild on the guitar while Faulkner keeps the rhythm going. You can almost feel the
”Spray on the storm’s maul” as the mighty Norsemen fight the ocean on their long trek west in search of booty (not
that type, Franco!
) and glory.
For a man reaching his sixty-third year, Rob Halford still has a mighty set of pipes, and he gives them full vent here, a scream that would give Bruce a run for his money! Great backing vocals too.
Proghead nerd sidenote: the album cover is designed by Mark Wilkinson, well known to fans of Marillion as being the man behind the first four album sleeves and also many of those released by Fish when he went solo. What do you mean, you don’t care, this is Metal Month, fuck off out of here you prog wank --- that’s not very nice now is it? Okay okay! We know when we’re not wanted. Put that bloody axe down, all right? We’re going.
Another warrior tale is related in “Sword of Damocles”. Whether it references the actual legend or not I don’t quite know; it may be just used as a metaphor. But it’s a slower, hard cruncher with a sense of swinging about it. Again a fine vocal performance from the main man, and an introspective guitar passage in the middle, during which Halford goes all soprano for a moment, which is a little unnerving, but it doesn’t last before his dark growl is back and we’re on track again. I’m not sure if “March of the damned” is about zombies, or again if it’s meant to be a metaphor for all the dead from various wars, but it’s got an odd, almost Numanesque vocal to it. Yeah I know. It’s a mid-paced monster, with a screaming guitar solo and deep, kind of breathing noises which are either made on the drumkit or on Tipton’s synth. Very effective either way.
You know, that vocal is so different I wonder if it’s someone other than Halford singing? Does Tipton sometimes sing? It just does not sound like the usual vocalist, though maybe he’s just that versatile a singer. What do I know? But if anyone does, please let me know. “Down in flames” has a sort of almost thrash metal vibe to it, rocking along well, with some good backing vocals. “Hell and back” thought it would get me, with its gentle, acoustic opening, but I knew. I knew! Marching along as a tough metal cruncher, it gives Tipton and Faulkner a different outlet for their guitar skills as they grind and snarl where before they screamed and shrieked. Sort of a heavy blues feel to this track too with a healthy dose of Manowar. Yeah, I said Manowar. Wanna fight about it?
With a title like “Cold blooded” you’re expecting another slowish cruncher, but what you get, rather interestingly is another slowish cruncher. Yeah, like a slower Tank or a more polished Diamond Head, Priest rack out the kind of lyric you would expect from a DSBM album but hit you with enough killer riffs and crashing drums that you can’t be depressed even though the lyric is very bleak and hopeless:
”You suck my life/ And all that I live for/ I’m left for dead/ Cold blooded…” “Metalizer” then kicks everything back up to ten, hammering along with a big scream from Halford and the kind of guitar I usually expect from Maiden’s poster boys. Kind of a Black Metal feel to the lyric ---
Thrusting from a grave of unholy earth/ Giving all his worth let the damned be saved/ All that evil sin buried underground” --- with some truly awesome drumming from Scott Travis that is in danger of knocking you out cold.
“Crossfire” reminds me of the late great Rory Gallagher, with a hard blues edge to it, especially the guitar solo. Sa-weet man! “Secrets of the dead” on the other hand is very progressive metal, though Priest would probably skin me alive for suggesting such a thing! Love the sort of eastern tinge to it, and say what you like but it reminds me of a Kamelot song I know, so there. Well we started powerfully, can we end the same way? “Battlecry” certainly goes for it, hard rockin’ all the way in an almost “Aces high” vibe, but “Beginning of the end” seems like it may close the album with a ballad. Certainly a relaxed opening on acoustic guitar and soft synth, echoing vocal from Halford. Pretty heartbreaking song, which seems to reference the death of a loved one. It is a ballad, and a great one, and though almost out of place, it puts the finishing touch on a great album.
TRACKLISTING
1. Dragonaut
2. Redeemer of souls
3. Halls of Valhalla
4. Sword of Damocles
5. March of the damned
6. Down in flames
7. Hell and back
8. Cold blooded
9. Metalizer
10. Crossfire
11. Secrets of the dead
12. Battle cry
13. Beginning of the end
If anyone thought there was a hidden message in the closer, the band have denied the rumours that this was to be their last album, and yet remain strangely ambiguous about the future: “In a way, I suppose it’s also our farewell album, though it might not be our last one” --- Glenn Tipton. Huh? Whatever the future holds for Judas Priest, having survived the turmoils of the NWOBHM, the punk revolution, grunge and hip-hop, they’re still standing proud, bold and defiant, and this album is their mission statement. In two and a bit words: “We’re back!”