“The Priest is back!” There’s something comforting about the notion that Judas Priest, that most metal of British institutions, is once more set to be unleashed, and the affection with which the band is held is entirely unaffected. Untouched by trends, Judas Priest live for the music they make, and if their shows revel in the over-the-top theatricality of it all, their albums make no such concession, so it stands as no surprise that various records from the band’s storied back catalogue regularly appear in ‘greatest…’ lists. Yet, despite a history that contains an embarrassment of riches, there is a fury in ‘firepower’ that is particularly potent, and from the very first track it is clear that the band are firing on all cylinders in a way that looks set to make ‘Firepower’ one of the metal albums of the year.
The opening title track pretty much says it all. From the rampaging riff that greets the listener to the monstrous levels of percussion, this is Priest on devilishly concise form, but even more impressive is Rob Halford’s absolutely towering vocal performance. Diamond hard and delivered with gleeful menace, this is Rob at his very best and he clearly relishes every rolled r and banshee wail. The aptly titled ‘lightning strike’ is tinged with a mix of progressive rock and power metal, the band tearing out a storming riff on the verse before building to a gloriously OTT chorus that proves devilishly hard to remove form the cranium. A gnarly groove emerges on the mid-tempo ‘Evil never dies’, a track that offers plenty of opportunity for both seasoned head bangers and air guitar players to go comprehensively nuts, and there’s a feeling that this is a track destined for classic status such is the stunning power with which it is delivered. Throbbing synths emerge to usher in ‘never the heroes’, a track which, with its taut, slightly reverb-tinged percussion and stripped down verse, digs into the band’s melodic, mid-eighties period. With its gigantic chorus and chrome-plated production, ‘never the heroes’ harks back to a time when Blackie Lawless and David Coverdale ruled the airwaves, and it is something of a nostalgic treat. In contrast, the biting riff of ‘necromancer’ tips a nod to the ambitious operatics of ‘Nostradamus’ and Rob once again shines as he gets into a role that, whilst deliciously dark, is still delivered with a twinkle in the eye. That slightly proggy vibe returns for the anthemic ‘children of the sun’, a track that sees Rob deliver one of his most versatile, and even vulnerable, performances in some time. The solos that pepper the middle meanwhile, are both elegant and exciting, Glenn Tipton and Richie Faulkner, now very comfortable in each other’s presence, playing off each other with consummate ease. The first half of the album concludes with a two-part mini-epic. First up is the short, piano-led ‘guardians’, a prelude that segues directly into the cinematic ‘rising from ruins’, a track that ratchets up the duelling guitars and leaves the listener in the throes of ecstasy just in time for side two.
Following on from the sumptuous spectacular that was ‘rising from ruins’, Priest head back to basics for the pulse-pounding metal of ‘flame thrower, the sort of lean, mean, killing machine that has been the band’s stock in trade at least since ‘British Steel’. It provides a moment of heads down metal action before the band ramp things up for the decidedly theatrical and overblown ‘spectre’, all wailing solos and deftly harmonised vocals. The band neatly wrong-foot the listener with the subtle intro to ‘traitor’s gate’, offering up a gently picked guitar refrain that’s soon battered out of the way by a riff that positively smokes as it leaves the speakers. The no less impressive ‘no surrender’ follows it, but it is the mighty ‘lone wolf’ that really sets the adrenal glands to work, right as the album edges towards its end, with its minor-key riffing and impressive vocals. Making a neat connection between Priest and bands such as Metallica who have made no secret of their long-standing admiration, ‘lone wolf’ is a heady and intoxicating brew that will leave metal fans agog at its epic might. A gorgeous acoustic refrain leads into album closer, ‘sea of red’, a track that draws on Deep Purple’s Mk III period with its slightly folky ambience recalling the elegiac ‘soldier of fortune’. It’s the perfect conclusion to an album that delights in astounding the listener and it looks set to demonstrate to a whole new generation of metal fans just why the Priest are considered the absolute masters of their art.
‘Firepower’ is a truly remarkable album. It’s as if the band went through their own untouchable back catalogue, picked out fourteen of the very best songs and then set about topping each and every one of them for this album. More concise than the sprawling ‘Nostradamus’ and considerably harder edged than the impressive ‘redeemer of souls’, ‘firepower’ benefits greatly from the expertise of producer extraordinaire Andy Sneap who gives the album the perfect mix of precision and depth, rendering ‘firepower’ one of Priest’s heaviest albums to date. Varied, sonically flawless and tremendously exciting, ‘Firepower’ is a latter-day Priest masterpiece. 10
