Judas Priest is a heavy metal band that has been around for almost 50 years! That’s damn impressive in and of itself. and this is their 18th studio album. EIGHTEENTH!!! That’s really crazy. Now, outside of “Painkiller,” a song I wouldn’t know if not for Guitar Hero and Rock Band, I don’t really know much about the group’s work, and I can say that about a lot of heavy metal bands. However, this album caught my interest because I saw it being described as one of the group’s best albums, and maybe one of the best metal albums of the decade. And, even as someone that has little to no interest in metal music, I listened to snippets of it and really enjoyed myself throughout. Let’s see if those snippets translate into something amazing.
Firepower: This song, to me, is what metal music should be. Thrashing drum beat, incredibly smooth, beautiful guitar melodies and solos throughout, and charismatic, exciting vocal performances that don’t just feel like needless shouting for the sake of shouting. There are also some very neat feel and tempo changes throughout this track that keep it interesting and fun throughout. Really great song, definitely an awesome start to the album!
Lightning Strike: This track leads in perfectly from the last one, and it has a very different feel, which is very nice. I also really loved the hook on this one, I fell in love with the drum beat, and there’s some really great, thrashing guitar riffs as well. Lead singer Rob Halford also once again provides very exciting, powerful vocals on this one, and doesn’t feel like he’s just screaming his head off the whole time. Great track!
Evil Never Dies: A track that has some clever lyrical allusions to “The Devil Went Down To Georgia,” this one features a kind of slower and more basic, but still very powerful and exciting drum beat, and a really solid hook. Halford’s vocals once again remain energetic on this one, and the guitar instrumentals and solos are very cool, too. Not one of my personal favorites on the album, but it’s definitely a solid track.
Never The Heroes: I love the way this one starts off! It kind of reminds me of an electronic song from a very futuristic film. After the intro, the song ends up being quite a bit slower than the other tracks on this record, but it has some very beautiful, smooth guitar melodies, and Halford’s vocals remain smooth and gorgeous on here. There’s a lot of great things going on on this track, and it’s definitely one of the most memorable ones on the album.
Necromancer: Taking things back to something closer to what the first track offered, I don’t love the hook on this one, but I do once again really dig the amazing guitar solos, the great drum beat, and Rob Halford’s typical fantastic vocals. It’s not one of my personal favorites on the album, but I feel like this one could grow on me with a little bit of time, it’s still quite good.
Children of the Sun: Slowing things down just a little in comparison to the last song, I found the very beautiful, smooth guitar riffs on this one to be easy to nod your head along to. The drum beat is also pounding and emphatic, and as always, I LOVE Halford’s vocals. He’s got a really strong, deep voice with plenty of range, and I feel like this track once again allows him to explore that, transitioning amazingly between his falsetto and his growl. Great track for sure!
Guardians: Now this is just a one-minute-long instrumental interlude, and while it does feel a bit at odds with a few of the other tracks on the record, I feel like I’ll want to come back to this one in the future because I love the very grand feel of it and the beautiful piano melody, and it transitions so perfectly into the next track. Great interlude!
Rising From Ruins: I love the intro to this track!!! I love the pounding drum beat and the really head-noddy guitar melody on this one. Rob’s vocals once again remain beautiful and very smooth throughout this track, as he continues to provide plenty of energy and excitement on this one! The track as a whole takes thing just a tick slower than some of the others on here, but there are so many really great intricacies to the track (like, the cool drum fills and beautiful guitar solos) that make this one so amazing!
Flame Thrower: Once again, Judas Priest brings the energy on this track and, while it’s again a slightly slower track than some of the others here, it’s no less pounding, and I also really love the hook on this one. There’s some really cool drum fills throughout this one, the guitar melody that leads it is beautiful (as is the guitar solo here), and Halford’s vocals remain as strong as ever. Not a favorite of mine, but I feel like this one has a lot of potential to grow on me with a few more listens.
Spectre: We have another more mid-tempo track here, one driven by some really cool guitar melodies throughout, and some really exciting, charismatic moments from Rob Halford. The solos are also pretty amazing here, and even if the drum beat here is a little more basic, it’s still thumping, head-noddy stuff. I really enjoyed this track a lot, and I definitely think it’ll get plenty of repeat listens from me.
Traitors Gate: I like the rather suspenseful intro to this one, and even though it leads into something that’s far more pounding and loud, I love it for the amazing guitar melodies throughout! The drum fills on this one are some of the best on the album, and I love how Rob jumps into his falsetto throughout the track on this one. Even as one of the longer tracks on the record, it never loses its energy thanks to the really fantastic instrumentation here. Definitely a really amazing song!
No Surrender: One of the shorter tracks on the record, I once again really loved the very bright guitar intro and solos throughout this song. And while I haven’t talked much about the lyrics throughout this record, I have to say that hearing Rob Halford say on the hook that he’s “ready to fight with no surrender” is pretty awesome. That’s just a really great line to me, and his vocals remain really fantastic on this one. Really love this track, too!
Lone Wolf: Once again, I like the way this one starts, as it feels kind of mysterious on the intro. Eventually, though, the song kicks into its more throbbing feel, but that doesn’t make it worse. In fact, the song, while not as uptempo as some of the others here, is really exciting and energetic. The song feels very drum-driven to me, and the fills on here are really awesome! I also have to appreciate that the song has a bit of a cool, swingy feel to it, too. It’s not a favorite of mine, but it’s a really cool, really enjoyable track overall.
Sea of Red: The final track on this album starts off much lighter than any of the others on here, and the guitar intro is really beautiful. The song itself takes a very down-tempo feel in comparison to some of the other songs on the record, but Rob Halford’s vocals are absolutely gorgeous on this one! This definitely feels very slightly stripped back in comparison to some of the other tracks on the record, but that doesn’t stop it from being an absolutely beautiful song! Great guitar solos, beautiful vocals, a simple but pounding drum track, this one has it all, and it’s the perfect end to this amazing album!
Overall, Judas Priest shows with “Firepower” that, even after almost 50 years and a boatload of albums, that they know how to make emphatic, exciting metal music. This album, at least to me, is what metal music should be: energetic and exciting with great drum beats, beautiful guitar melodies, and charismatic vocal performances that don’t just feel like mindless screaming for the sake of mindless screaming. I’ll put it to you guys like this, I’m not even a fan of heavy metal music, and this thing just made me want to headbang the entire time. Of course, I didn’t, or else I’d have gotten a headache, but even so, the album really is that fantastic that it made someone like me, that doesn’t even listen to metal music, really get into it.
To that point, I feel like this is a record that you should listen to, even if you’re not a metal fan. Because I get that there seems to be a reputation that metal music is just “loud, scream-y music about people shouting at the devil.” This, I can tell you, is not that. This is an album that is exciting, not overly scream-y, and filled with so much beautiful instrumentation that the whole “loud” factor shouldn’t really matter. This is metal music done right, and this is the kind of thing that’s easy to get into even if you aren’t a metal fanatic. I walked in not sure what to expect, but I can more than appreciate an album like this; I can also headbang to it.
Well, not really because I’d get a headache, but still, listen to it!
Favorite tracks: Firepower, Lightning Strike, Never The Heroes, Children of the Sun, Guardians, Rising From Ruins, Spectre, No Surrender, Sea of Red
Least favorite tracks: Uhh…can’t really pick one. They all were pretty good to me.
Rating: Excellent
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