Ελληνικά
Genre: Heavy Metal
Country: U.K.
Label : Epic
Year: 2018
When a band returns to discography it’s like placing a bet with itself. Basically, I’m talking about the kind of bet that deals with your band and its place on the map. If you create an album, you are alive. The rest is history.
Are we serious though? Are there such bets when it comes to Judas Priest? Of course there are. It’s the legends that inspire the younger ones isn’t it? It’s their obligation to create monumental music. It’s not a matter of legacy or a cult status. It’s not that what created a monster. Legends are born via albums that are now a constant in history. Albums that have a reason to exist and something to tell.
“Firepower” is such a case. In my humble opinion, it includes some of the finest pieces Judas Priest created the last few years. There are some incredible songs in there and their decision to lower the speed and to focus on the riffs is more than wise. If they had decided upon this earlier, they would have avoided their late 90’s – early 00’s down-the-slope era.
In “Rising From Ruins”, we listen to a massive, Judas Priest-like chorus, while in “Children Of The Sun”, you know what a Judas Priest riff feels like. If a 5% of teenagers decide to grab a guitar and start gamming to “Rising..” heavy metal will live on for more than half a century. And everything thanks to a Judas Priest track.
Some speedy tracks are always there, however always based on a riff based setup, clear to our ears since the very beginning of the album. I really like the fact that Judas Priest are in a rush to bring out once more those little features that once brought them massive success…
Check out “Spectre”, for example! How familiar is this “The Ripper” guitar bridge! There are much more, you just have to listen carefully. Their message is clear “We are Judas Priest and in 2018 we will offer you great music, with the guidance of our classic recipe. Music that will kick your ass.”
Halford’s voice is crystal clear. Listen carefully to “Necromancer” and you’ll see why.
The production is as it was supposed to be. Tom Allom, an old familiar to all brings out the wisdom of the past, while Andy Sneap is bonding it with today. The pieces breathe out showing their dynamic in every speaker, with no experiments of tricks that try to impress. Every new band focusing on classic heavy metal, should listen to this album.
The art cover is a classic Priest, reminding the world of who’s in charge.
For me, this is Priest’s best album since the Painkiller era. It’s based on some tested-before standards, by people who have defined them. We need more such albums for sure. Fortunately, Priest can still give us what we want.
5/6
