As I've already reviewed the latest album in Metal Month II here
http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...ml#post1495642, this then becomes the final Judas Priest album in the discography, and it features a total shift of direction in their music, away from speed metal and towards a more orchestrated sound, hinging more on symphonic and gothic metal. It's a concept album --- their only one to date --- and a double, also a first for them. With a total of 23 tracks there's a lot to get through, so let's get started.
Nostradamus (2008)
Unsurprisingly, the concept centres around the prophecies of the thirteenth-century clairvoyant, who is said to have accurately predicted many world events, including man walking on the Moon, the rise of Hitler and the fall of the Twin Towers. Whether you ascribe to these beliefs or not is unimportant for this review, but many of his prophecies are mentioned of course. There's a heavier reliance on keyboards and synthesisers than in previous albums, and also choir and orchestra play a large part too. There's an uncharacteristically soft piano and strings opening to “Dawn of creation”, which sounds much more like the intro to a prog album, giving you an idea just how different this is going to be from previous Priest releases. Some menacing approaching guitar before we move into “Prophecy”, which allows the guitar to kick through in classic Priest fashion, though slower and grindier than you might expect.
Good snarly vocal from Halford, gives a real sense of threat and portent, then a short guitar passage accompanies a morose vocal before we reach “Revelations”, which opens with dark organ and frantic strings, bringing in Tipton and Downing to fire up the track, which hits into more of the tempo we expect from these guys. Interesting vocal, as Rob sings each word with a pause after it, as in
”I – see – all – things...” and some great backing keyboard work from Don Airey. Great strings too. Slowing down then for “The four horsemen”, another short piece driven on what sounds like organ and maybe acoustic guitar, then bringing in choral vocals and strings again to take it to its short ending. It's followed by the stirring anthem “War”, which treads very slightly into Manowar/Virgin Steele territory, but with almost zero cheese.
This seems to be something of a suite, as I missed “Sands of time” which now runs into “Pestilence and Plague”, obviously carrying on the theme of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. This one rocks along nicely with a sort of galloping beat and quite the hook in the chorus. I think Halford may be speaking French here at one point, but I can't quite make it out. Appropriately enough, pealing, tolling bells and a lamenting choir pull in “Death”, which then features Halford almost speaking the vocal, the whole thing based pretty closely on Sabbath's signature song. Even the guitar tritone (?) is right out of the Tony Iommi playbook. Oh man, there's even a breakout guitar solo near the end!
“Peace” then, not surprisingly, slows it all down with a gentle acoustic guitar and soft synth lines before “Conquest” hits the accelerator again and we're off rocking with some great guitar solos, then slowing down on the back of soft piano and strings for “Lost love”. The first disc then ends on “Persecution”, which begins gently enough but you know it's gonna kick up, and so it does, as Downing and Tipton slip their leashes and just go wild. Halford, too, relapses a little into his old vocal style, and while this new one is great, it's a joy to hear him return to the kind of singing we heard on
British Steel and
Turbo.
Dics two kicks off on the melancholy “Solitude”, driven by Airey's lonely piano line, a short sort of introduction I guess to the second part, just under a minute and a half, then “Exiled” comes in on powerful strings and percussion with a sort of rippling guitar (it could be harp but I don't think so) and a really dramatic feel of frustration to it. The raw power and emotion in this song makes it one of the standouts for me. Just excellent. “Alone” continues this trend, with a dark, brooding semi-ballad driven by strings and synthesisers, with strong choral vocals and a snarling guitar punching through the whole thing. Another short tune then in the balladic “Shadows in the flame” before we head into the bombastic “Visions” with a real groove metal guitar riff running through it, then “Hope” is another short, slow song with a very expressive vocal from Halford and some fine backing vocals too.
That runs directly into “New beginnings”, keeping the basic melody, and I would swear there's a didgeridoo in there (!) though maybe it's just a weird synth. Either way, it stays slow, dark and morose, and continues to be a real showcase for how Judas Priest can step out of what's seen as their wheelhouse and go in a totally different direction, and still knock it out of the park. More great piano from Don Airey, then a very Rush-style guitar circa 1975 opens “Calm before the storm”, giving either Tipton or Downing a chance to show what he can really do without having to shred, rising strings joining him halfway in what I must assume is an instrumental --- no here comes Halford. Didn't think he'd come in so late into the piece, but his vocal certainly adds to the song. Total metal blowout then for the title, and penultimate track, as Halford sings his heart out, the man wronged by his peers but determined to survive. Downing and Tipton thunder in then on the guitars as the percussion hits too and the song takes off, the closest to a “standard” Judas Priest track as we've heard to date. A concession to the old-school fans? Maybe, but it fits in really well. Sweet solos near the end.
And then we're heading over the finishing line, with “Future of mankind”, a powerful, stirring, gothic, almost operatic and cinematic conclusion to an album which definitely stands now among my favourites from the band, and confirms the re-coronation of Rob Halford as the only Judas Priest singer, the king of British steel.
TRACKLISTING
DISC ONE
1. Dawn of creation
2. Prophecy
3. Awakening
4. Revelations
5. The Four Horsemen
6. War
7. Sands of time
8. Pestilence and Plague
9. Death
10. Peace
11. Conquest
12. Lost love
13. Persecution
Disc Two
14. Solitude
15. Exiled
16. Alone
17. Shadows in the flame
18. Visions
19. Hope
20. New beginnings
21. Calm before the storm
22. Nostradamus
23. Future of mankind
If ever a band really stretched themselves, quite unexpectedly really, Judas Priest showed in this album that they are so much more than just a metal band. Not that there's anything wrong with that, but once again they were redefining what it meant to be who they were, and daring others to follow and imitate them. After a long hiatus and two triumphant comeback albums, Priest were now firmly re-established in the hearts and minds of the metal fraternity, and those who had deserted them or lost faith in them during the “Ripper years” must surely now have been rethinking, rejoicing and welcoming this extraordinary band back from the wilderness.
As for me, this has definitely been a blast and I can see why so many people love this band. They've certainly been through the wars, have experienced the highs and the very very lows, but have come through all of it with their heads held high, ready to, in their own words from several decades ago, take on all the world.
Screaming for, and achieving at the highest level, vengeance.
Unstoppable.