Judas Priest

JUDAS PRIEST

Rock

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Review By: Matt Isaac

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The last time I saw Judas Priest live was in 2011 on their epitaph tour which was meant to be a farewell one . Kk downing had left the band suddenly left the band he co founded nearly 40 years previously.

Former Lauren Harris axe man Richie Faulkner seemlessly fitted into the band as a live performer. Not only that, re rejuvenated the priest as unit and encouraged them to soldier on to continue to tour AND to head back to the studio . Many thought 2008’s conceptual ‘Nostradamus’ would be their ponderous goodbye . 2014 ‘redeemers of souls ’ proved otherwise and ranks as one the very best albums the band has made .

However the mighty priest were faced with another set back when Glenn Tipton , the engine and driving force behind the priest songwriting and sound was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease forcing him off the road , saving for sparodic encore appearances.

He still wrote and played in the studio and miraculously 2018’s ‘firepower’ raised the bar even higher, scaling the heights of classic albums such as ‘British steel’ ‘painkiller ‘ and ‘Stained Class’. Producer Andy Sneap would sub for Tipton live and was is the case for their first album in 6 years and the first since COVID and their way over due rock and roll hall of fame induction ... How would ‘invisible Shield’ stand up to their previous masterworks?

Well it’s evident from the ‘panic attack’ that Rob and the boys aren’t going down the retirement route anytime soon - it’s a bona fide classic, with 72 year old Halford sounding as powerful, hitting impossibly high notes as he did 40 plus years ago. It’s right up there with ‘painkiller’ as a killer album opener.

‘Serpent and the king’ with the trademark twin guitar riffs carries the pace admirably whilst the title track ‘Invisible shield ‘- picks up speed with it’s thrashy tempo echoing ‘freewheel burning’a  grinding rhythm.

‘Devil in disguise’ is  slow and menancing reminding me of ‘night crawler’ whilst ‘Gates of hell ‘ takes a more mainstream route with a majestic chorus.

‘Crown of horns’ is an anthem for their fans which just starting playing live with a soaring chorus with a heavy brooding mid section.

‘As god is my witness picks up the faster pace classic priest with a modern twist powered along by peerless drummer Scott Travis  as does the haunting and moody ‘trial by fire’ which starts off with fade in guitar intro ala ‘victim of changes ‘...Again this has entered their live shows already.

‘Sons of thunder’ looks set do the same complete with amazing guitar licks . Rob layered vocals sines in this also.  Escape from reality is one of the more hooky and memorable songs ...

The epic closer ‘giants in the sky’ starts like a normal solid Judas Priest belter  before descending into a gorgeous acoustic mid section with beautiful Spanish playing from Richie Faulkner before building into an epic crescendo.

The bonus tracks prove that the song writing quality isn’t letting anytime soon . ‘The fight of your life’ has tinges off 80’s zz top . This could have actually been a single or a high point compared to ‘defenders of the faith ‘ era Priest ...

‘ Vicious circle’ is  short, punchy and powerful and the lodger is a wonderful power ballad and an anthem for the underdog . The fact that these are bonus tracks demonstrate the pure quality of songwriting Judas Priest are far from dry of creative ideas .

Having only been released barely a week ‘invisible shield’ needs time to prove itself. Already, only three dates in their tour , the band are rotating these songs in their set , proving they have an army fantastic new songs to play live .

In my opinion, it ranks up with one of the best albums they have ever made . The fact that it’s made number 2 in the album charts, their best charting position ever, surely means that there must be at least 1 more album left in Priest .

To quote ‘crown of thorns’ ‘they’ll be calling out to the world to raise their horns up high’ for a number of years to come .