Music Review - Judas Priest - Redeemer of Souls

It's been awhile since I made a post. Partly it's because I moved to my first apartment, but that was a month ago. I've been tempted to write several times and come up with no motivation, but after listening to the new Judas Priest album I figured I could finally figure out something to say. I was originally going to review Mastodon's new album Once More Round The Sun, and I still will, but I'm thinking of doing a whole career review, album by album, so that's been put on hold until my copies of the other albums show up. Well, without further review, here is Redeemer of Souls.

Judas Priest exists in this odd Classic Rock time vortex that a lot of older rock bands from the 70's and 80's have been thrown into, where the band is at once celebrated for the majority of their back catalog, yet ignored when they release anything current. Iron Maiden, Black Sabbath, hell even Whitesnake and Deep Purple have this problem. The bands don't retire, but they can't seem to catch anyone's attention with the new releases. Part of the problem I think has to do with subject matter. When you've been around as long as Sabbath, Priest, Maiden, you've pretty much written everything you wanted to write. What do you do after that? Well you create something new, and it seems that new effort is often lackluster.

Iron Maiden's latest The Final Frontier was ultimately a disappointment for me because it's one long epic song after another, until it all blends into same-y territory. As much as I enjoyed the return of Ozzy fronted Sabbath, this was my biggest problem with 13 too. The shortest songs on Sabbath's 13 are 4 1/2 minutes long, and that's you know, decent, but roughly half the songs on the album are 7-9 minutes long, and most of these songs were slow, trudging pieces. Though they're enjoyable, when you're hit with 7 minute song after 7 minute song in the same tempo it gets exhausting.

So when I put on Redeemer of Souls I was immediately delighted to see the longest track is Halls of Valhalla at just over 6 minutes, and the rest of the album ranges in length and tempo. While the album still feels a little large overall, it's really enjoyable, and doesn't feel like a slog through familiar territory.

Redeemer of Souls is largely treading familiar waters, but it doesn't feel old. It in fact feels like a throwback to their 70's offerings like Stained Class with a hint of my favorite album, Painkiller. Songs about fighting, swords, fire, steel most certainly, war, battle, it's cheesy in just the right ways. If anyone were to make the overbearing machismo on this album tolerable, it's Halford and company. The lyrics are nothing revolutionary, but they're the kind of campy fun you come to expect from a legacy band like Priest. Things like Metalizer's "His immortal soul at stake, hear the storm clouds break." It's exactly what you expect at this point in their career. Halford's taken the pitch down in his songs a bit and sings in a lower register, but that's what you expect for a singer in their 60's. He proves throughout the album he can still hit the high notes, just not as high, and not as often, but he hits them all the same.

This is the first album without founding guitarist KK Downing, who has been replaced by Richie Faulkner, and it doesn't sound that different. If anything, much like Brad Wilk's drumming on Sabbath's 13, Faulkner sounds like he is doing his best to channel what the band sounded like in their prime, and it works. Tipton and Faulkner sound great in tandem, and bring life to the riffs that sounded overblown and tired on 2008's Nostradamus.

This album marks 40 years since Rocka Rolla, Judas Priest's first EP, and while they don't sound as young and energetic as they did then, they still are able to deliver a fun, hour-long romp into campy, machismo-filled Metal territory. I can't even find a song I dislike on the album, it's a solid 13 tracks. Though I would have preferred a few more quick-burning numbers over the long headbang-chanters like Secrets of the Dead, it's a pretty good mix between the styles. My favorite album is and will always be Painkiller because Priest experimented with the sub-genre Speed Metal, and even if half the songs are cheesier than well, a block of cheese, it was loud, fast and aggressive. A side of Priest that had been missing in the late 80's. It was a direction they never quite attempted again, the closest being 2005's Angel of Retribution, an album I love dearly. However, you can hear bits and pieces of the style still in Redeemer of Souls, with songs like the opener Dragonaut and Battle Cry.

If you like Priest, I think you'll like this album. If you're not really a Priest fan or haven't gotten into the back catalog, check out albums like Stained Class, British Steel and Painkiller first, then check this one out. It's a fun, solid album from a band who are proving that they're not too old to rock, but it's not as good as the albums of old.

Spotify