CD REVIEW: JUDAS PRIEST – Redeemer Of Souls

Shane | 16 March 2015 | 1 Reply

CD REVIEW: JUDAS PRIEST – Redeemer Of Souls
Sony
8 July 2014
Reviewed by Shane Pinnegar
8 ½ /10

After the plodding and terminally dull concept album Nostradamus, Judas Priest have thankfully remembered what made them so great: razor sharp riffs, crushingly heavy rhythms and catchy songs.

Rob Halford sounds like a man reborn compared with that last album – surely the nadir of the band’s catalogue – and their dismal tour in support of it. The 63 year old puts many singers half his age to shame, even whilst intoning half of his lyrics.

New guitarist Richie Faulkner steps in to replace the dearly departed K K Downing, and he meshes well with Glen Tipton on the axe attack, and also co-writing the tunes.

The title track is a stormtrooper in the true metal Priest style; Halls Of Valhalla sees them giving a stylistic wink to their many imitators: this is classic Judas Priest done as only they can, and this theme continues throughout the album.

Each song is a nod back to the glory days of the band – they’ve remembered their strengths and aren’t afraid to use them, and the result is an album that stands tall in an excellent catalogue (and dwarfs Nostradamus so much that that album seems best forgotten).