Ελληνικά
Genre: Heavy Metal
Label: Napalm Records
Country: USA/G. Britain
Year: 2023
Sometimes life is simple: Heavy metal is Judas Priest. Do you enjoy Priest? If the answer is “yes”, then sit down and listen, because you are in for a treat.
For those who didn’t get the memo, KK Downing, a huge chapter in the book of heavy metal through Judas Priest, decided to continue the legacy of the historic British band, together with the UNSTOPPABLE Ripper Owens, creating KK Priest. Their debut was an excellent album for all those Judas Priest fans that was craving for new music since the amazing Firepower.
KK Priest’s second album The Sinner Rides Again, is even better than their debut, harder, tighter, more determined! Want to take it a step further? Sinner Rides Again is the record that Priest should have released after Painkiller after Rob Halford left, instead of Jugulator. If you were wondering what Priest would sound like back then if they didn’t “Americanize” their sound, without the compulsive/all consuming groove of the 90s, then the new record is the answer.
Is it so good, then; The answer is, yes, it is. It’s incredibly guitar-heavy, with endless richness in guitar themes, melodies and solos, constant changes to make the tracks memorable, anthemic choruses and non-stop throttle! Sinner Rides Again is a huge burst of energy from start to finish, even if on the second side, the acoustic and atmospheric passages increase.
Imagine “Sons of the Sentinel” played live and the whole audience screaming the chorus, the ecstasy of “One more shot at glory”, as if the calendar is stuck in 1990, indulge in the dark turn of “Keeper of the graves” and “Hymn 66”. Enjoy the record that Judas Priest never gave us and no one knows if they can write anymore. KK Priest’s passion and unquenchable thirst for metal is truly an oasis for our times.
A word about Ripper, for closure. The man is AMAZING. More mature and comfortable than ever, dynamic and expressive, he takes the already excellent songs and takes them up a notch, rips them apart. It’s worth listening to him and the passion with which he performs “Strike of the Viper”, it really stings you like a viper! His vocal control is now legendary, a superweapon on the mic and one of the most important reasons why Sinner Rides Again is stealing the show.
Don’t waste a minute on the gossip and banter between the bands, if you want to choose sides, just choose heavy metal.
BRING THEM TO GREECE!
