Redeemer of Souls
*Redeemer of Souls* is Judas Priest’s 17th studio album and their first without original guitarist K.K. Downing. New guitarist Richie Faulkner does an admirable job alongside Priest’s main guitarist, Glenn Tipton, in recreating the twin-guitar attack that Priest practically invented. Unlike the heavy concepts and synths of 2008’s *Nostradamus*, *Redeemer of Souls* is flat-out classic Priest, with a straightforward metal attack that still finds time for singer Rob Halford to show off his stunning vocal range on “Sword of Damocles.” The opening “Dragonaut,” the title track, and “Down in Flames” capture the power chord metal of the band’s classic albums *Killing Machine*, *British Steel*, and *Screaming for Vengeance*. A sense of farewell is built into a number of the songs, though the band, in interviews, maintain they’re not done making albums. “Beginning of the End” means exactly that, the *beginning* of the end, not the end. The deluxe version adds five songs, including the catchy but still heavy “Snakebite” and the epic and sentimental “Never Forget.”
The antithesis to 2008's overblown Nostradamus, Redeemer of Souls feels quaint in comparison, eschewing the largely fantasy-driven conceptual style of the ambitious, yet undeniably cumbersome, two-disc set in favor of a more refined, classic rock approach that edges closer to the group's late-'70s offerings like Sin After Sin and Stained Class.
Gauging the pre-release fan chatter out there, "Redeemer of Souls" rings more like Judgment Day than the release of a new JUDAS PRIEST album. This should be cause for celebration, since it's JUDAS freakin' PRIEST, damn ya. Nevertheless, "Redeemer of Souls" arrives amidst skepticism following their s...
A review of Redeemer of Souls by Judas Priest, available July 8th in Europe the and 14th in North America via Sony Music Entertainment.
After some worryingly erratic musical behaviour in recent years, Priest sound more in love with metal than ever here, writes <strong>Dom Lawson</strong>