I'm not going to bother giving this release any backstory because it's fucking Judas Priest and everyone knows this is their first record with Rob god damn Halford in 15 motherfuckin' years, so on with it already. From what I've read about this record people seem to love it or hate it, and I think those are both unreasonable reactions. To give this disc a near perfect score (as I've seen a few mags do, believe it or not) is absolutely laughable, but at the same time, to toss this off as the work of a washed up bunch of has-beens isn't fair either. It's just a solid heavy metal record, and considering that these guys are old as fuck, it is pretty damn good. Hell, I was never a huge Judas Priest fan anyway, I was 13 when "Painkiller" came out and I fucking loved it, but I was too young to really appreciate them in the 80's and I still don't really fawn over their early work to this day. For me, it's all about "Painkiller" and it always will be. That being said, this record is not a total throwback to that era, but it is, of course, better than the Ripper albums (though admittedly "Jugulator" was decent, just face it). There are definitely some "Painkiller"-esque elements at work here, but the band kind of seems to be revisiting bits and pieces from their entire career, as there's just as much hard rockin' simplicity and lightly thrashy aggression as there are darker and more atypically modern flirtations (see "Worth Fighting For", which I'll touch on later). "Judas Rising" (What a title for an opener, eh?) kicks things off and definitely tries to recapture the anthemic sort of "Painkiller" vibe, and comes about as close as it probably could 15 years after the fact, but despite what some would say "Worth Fighting For" is by far the best track on this thing: A "ballad" to some degree, but sorry, the midpaced tempo and winding main riff that backs the chorus are just an awesome fucking combination. I totally love this fucking song. "Demonizer" is straight up moderately paced metal and could've been at home on "Painkiller", with "Wheels of Fire" offering more of the same but with a little more catchiness thanks to a nod to the "Screaming for Vengeance" days. "Hellrider" (true metal song titles scarcely get much better than that) is another ripper (no pun intended) that cuts loose with some awesome midpaced chords and squealing pinch harmonics with one of Halford's more layered and colorful vocal performances, though admittedly the song's value lies largely in its kitsch value more than anything else; followed by the largely instrumental "Eulogy" that brings in piano and synths behind a sparse clean riff that's actually not bad. Had they built this into a longer and more developed tune it definitely could've rivaled "Worth Fighting For", as the repetitious main melody is pretty fuckin' cool. Of course, for the good songs, there are the bad. "Deal With the Devil" is a tolerable yet cheesy tune that's kind of play-by-numbers coming from this camp; "Revolution" is a mildly obnoxious midpaced fistbanger with some pretty goofy vocal arrangements and quite a lame chorus that I have a hard time sitting through; and "Angel" is a total ballad complete with shitty modern rock sounding acoustic riffs that even Halford's genre defining vocals can't come close to saving (not that he had a chance in hell with a song structure that weak). 13+ minute closer "Lochness" is also way too fucking long for its own good, and the pinch harmonics that follow the soft intro make up what is quite possibly the stupidest riff in Judas Priest history (yes, even stupider than some of the shit on "Demolition"). But despite too much meandering and some passages that just sound forced coming from Priest it is listenable and has a few cool runs going on. The recording is a little annoying to me, and actually does hold the album back to a small degree. Halford's vocals sound excellent in my opinion, and for the most part the other tones are in order as well (the solos sound killer and tend to kick ass), but the rhythm guitar tone is a little lacking and could use a little more oomph or sustain. The drums are fine, pretty balanced I imagine, and the bass is also solid, but the issue is that there's something muddying up the mix and I can't place what it is. No matter how much you crank the volume there's a dash of clarity you'll find yourself looking for that never presents itself. I think maybe the guitar tone has some hidden low-end going on or something, because the guitars feel like they ought to be louder and crisper in the mix, but at the same time, the bass isn't terribly prominent, so maybe it's so thick that it's clouding things up due to a lack of definition? I don't know, it sounds good, but there's definitely room for improvement and it needs a little something more. The disc comes in a weird little hardcover book type of package with the disc and bonus DVD housed within sets of pages set up like sleeves. It looks kind of nice but is a surefire pain in the ass setup for pages to accidentally tear out down the line. The artwork is of course fairly goofy and takes a modern touch to the classic Priest style (circa "Screaming for Vengeance" especially), much like the music attempts to do. Lyrics? Come on, they're terrible sans their unintentional comedic value, as always, constantly referencing old Priest album titles, metal, hell, vengeance, and so on. I don't think anyone ever liked Judas Priest for the fuckin' lyrics, though. The bonus DVD includes some interview and live footage from the band's reunion tour last year and is probably around 45 minutes long or so, I forgot to time it. The interview footage is more interesting to me than the live stuff (which I skipped because I get bored by live performances), but it's an entertaining little addition. Not worth the more expensive $20 pricetag (fuck that DualDisc shit, if a CD's not guaranteed to actually play in any CD player, I'm not taking my chances), but fuck it, I don't really care. The band would've been better served to shelve a few of these songs (namely "Revolution" and "Angel"), rework the chorus of "Lochness" into a shorter and more streamlined affair, and throw in one or two tunes more along the lines of "Worth Fighting For" or "Wheels of Fire", but fuck it. These guys are as old as my fucking parents and they're still plugging away and pulling it off, so hats off to 'em, you know? I'll take what I can get, and there's more good than bad here.
[Epic]
Running time - 52:38, Tracks: 10
[Notable tracks: Judas Rising, Worth Fighting For, Demonizer, Wheels of Fire]
Judas Priest - http://www.judaspriest.com
