Since the ill fated No More Tours 2 tour headlined by Ozzy Osbourne, Judas Priest have been quietly forging a new bit of pure steel. The skies have finally parted to reveal the latest weapon from our beloved Brummie Hellions; Invincible Shield.
There has been a lot of pressure to top the undisputed masterpiece that is Firepower and while it doesn’t quite reach that height, it still soars amongst the heights of their legendary records. The record opens with the synths of ‘Panic Attack’ which lead into the classic Judas Priest riffing we’ve all come to love. Rob Halford sounds as youthful as ever as he hits notes on tracks like ‘The Serpent And The King’ that people a fraction of his age can only dream of hitting.
The majority of the album is classic driving heavy metal just with clean modern production. You could be convinced that some of these songs were written in 1984, ‘Devil In Disguise’ sounds like it came straight out of British Steel and the title track sounds like one of the heavier tracks from Screaming for Vengeance.
As God as My Witness is a borderline Thrash Metal song complete with breakneck tremolo picked riffs and pounding double bass work from Travis Smith. This is one of the most intense tracks Judas Priest have put out in a long time and it’s sure to become a fan favourite.
The UK tour hasn’t started yet but there are already tracks that desperately need to be part of the setlist. ‘Gates Of Hell’ feels designed to have 20,000 metalheads chanting the choruses while the awe-inspiring twin guitar attack screams its harmonies through the biggest sound system possible.
The final track (of the standard edition), ‘Giants Of The Sky,’ is a tribute to the fallen titans of metal we’ve come to worship as the metal gods they are. Some may call it corny but it’s a heartfelt and worthy tribute to the likes of Lemmy and Dio from one group of metal gods to another. Let’s be honest, metal is a corny genre anyway so we may as well embrace it.
The final bonus track is entitled ‘The Lodger’ and you could make the argument that it’s an alternate perspective of someone involved in The Ripper. It’s a stretch but the “vengeance will be mine” could very well be from someone wronged by The Ripper and on the hunt for revenge. There’s no real proof to back it but it’s still fun to theorise.
Six decades into their career and still putting out high-quality heavy metal, Judas Priest show a love and respect for heavy metal and their fellow metalheads that is still awe-inspiring and their skills as musicians and songwriters have only gotten stronger over the years.
Long may they reign as Metal Gods.
