{"id":68601,"date":"2018-03-09T00:00:59","date_gmt":"2018-03-09T00:00:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/?p=68601"},"modified":"2018-04-24T12:32:05","modified_gmt":"2018-04-24T12:32:05","slug":"album-review-judas-priest-firepower","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/album-review-judas-priest-firepower\/","title":{"rendered":"JUDAS PRIEST – Firepower (2018) | Album \/ EP Reviews @ Metal Forces Magazine"},"content":{"rendered":"

JUDAS PRIEST
Firepower<\/strong><\/span>
\n\"\"
\nColumbia (2018)<\/span>
Rating: 8.5\/10<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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And so it has arrived; Judas Priest\u2019s 18th studio album that comes, as expected, sizzling, scorching and firing on all cylinders. What else did you expect? As one of the most important band\u2019s within the heavy metal genre it\u2019s hard to write something about Priest which hasn\u2019t already been said countless times over.<\/p>\n

Firepower<\/em> could be considered predictable by some. After all, it\u2019s got that speedy gallop from the off bolstered by that red hot twin axe attack, it\u2019s got the belligerent percussion, the festering bass lines and, of course, it\u2019s led by the fiery screams, screeches and sneers of the inimitable Rob Halford.<\/p>\n

Halford is one of the only frontmen who can still get away with wailing \u201cI\u2019ll bring you the head of the demon, I\u2019m peeling the skin from his face\u201d<\/em> without sounding cheesy. And that\u2019s because Judas Priest are icons, masters of their trade and probably the most consistent beast within this bulging genre of sound-alikes and imitations.<\/p>\n

So let me throw the clich\u00e9s at you when I say that Firepower<\/em> is a full-throttle, heavily armoured, all guns blazing, molten metal extravaganza that some are claiming is their best outing since 1990\u2019s Painkiller<\/em>. But is it really? Well, in some aspects yes; just listen to the title track as it opens up this hour-long composition.<\/p>\n

Firepower<\/em> is bursting with all the ingredients required to make a fantastic Judas Priest album. Sure, you often know what\u2019s coming next, but that\u2019s what straight down the line, authentic metal is all about. And who, after all these years, wants to see Priest experimenting with weird styles? No-one. So just batten down the hatches and let the opening cut consume you in its red flames as the guitars drive hard in typical Priest fashion, and boy does that chorus suddenly crush the skull, chill the blood and pierce the ears as Halford beams and yelps like no-one else can.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s classic metal right up, at the top of the holy mountain which so many pretenders stand within the shadow of. The axe melodies gloriously swirl and soar to the rattle of Scott Travis\u2019 monstrous drum boom as we\u2019re sent spiralling into the whirlwind of madness for what becomes a hammering power metal surge.<\/p>\n

That sonic force never lets up as \u2018Lightning Strike\u2019 comes charging like a demonic bull, snorting, padding and revelling in its own metallic madness. The chorus is pretty basic, but it\u2019s only bands like Priest who fuse together so many archetypes within the genre, because lyrically it\u2019s not world changing. Then again, maybe it is, as I envision millions of fans bangin\u2019 in unison and sweating their heart out for such pulverising rhythms.<\/p>\n

So yes, this is<\/em> classic Judas Priest constructing a colossal album bursting at the seams with anthemic metal, all built upon that Glenn Tipton \/ Richie Faulkner axe foundation. And as Ian Hill\u2019s bass rumbles and thunders, you can only stand back in awe as the band comes crunching with the gargantuan \u2018Evil Never Dies\u2019; a mid-paced chugger of dark design where Halford\u2019s tones reek of the ominous but again that screeching chorus harkens back to those Painkiller<\/em> days.<\/p>\n

While the detractors among you may refuse to believe it, Firepower<\/em> really is one of the band\u2019s finest records, a real powerhouse that only seems to get in touch with the modern via the more subtle trudges of, say, \u2018Never The Heroes\u2019 which showcases the subtle side to Priest\u2019s arsenal.<\/p>\n

In my opinion, \u2018Never The Heroes\u2019 is probably one of the weaker tracks on offer, and I\u2019m not a huge fan of \u2018Rising From Ruins\u2019 either, which is again presented as the more soulful side of Judas Priest\u2019s nature. However, the variety is still admirable as slower tempos and softer, fragile melodies break up the pounding electricity pumped forth by other gems such as \u2018Necromancer\u2019 and the fizzing \u2018Traitors\u2019 Gate\u2019, with its infectious gallop.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s not to say that every one of the heavier tracks is a winner. The almost groove-based traipse of \u2018Flame Thrower\u2019, with its juddering bass, is steady but no frills, and \u2018Spectre\u2019 is pretty much a nod to 80s Priest. But there\u2019s no real bad egg amongst the bunch. Sure, it could be argued that the platter is a tad overlong, but one gets the feeling that the boys really enjoyed making this album, and so numbers such as \u2018No Surrender\u2019 and the effortless doom metal chug of \u2018Lone Wolf\u2019 are joys to behold; the latter being one of the records finest and certainly heaviest moments.<\/p>\n

By the time closer \u2018Sea Of Red\u2019 introduces itself with wistful fashion, just sit back and realise what a wondrous entity this band was and still is. And as they continue into the aeons of the great halls they helped carve out, one can only look at Firepower<\/em> as another excellent record. The kids today still have a lot to learn, and bands such as Judas Priest are the force by which all must be judged.<\/p>\n

Neil Arnold<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

JUDAS PRIESTFirepower Columbia (2018)Rating: 8.5\/10 And so it has arrived; Judas Priest\u2019s 18th studio album that comes, as expected, sizzling, scorching and firing on all cylinders. What else did you expect? As one of the most important band\u2019s within the heavy metal genre it\u2019s hard to write something about Priest which hasn\u2019t already been said […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,191],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-68601","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-album-ep-reviews","category-judas-priest"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68601","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=68601"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68601\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":68602,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68601\/revisions\/68602"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=68601"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=68601"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=68601"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}