Legendary heavy metal band Judas Priest have released their first new music following the departure of longtime guitarist K.K. Downing. Entitled “Redeemer of Souls,” it is the first single off the upcoming album of the same name. It reveals a band simultaneously keeping with modern expectations of heavy metal composition and production and staying loyal to their roots in the NWOBHM movement.
“Redeemer of Souls” will trigger mixed reactions. While it shows some updated sound, this track at least is standard heavy metal fare, avoiding the later attempts of the band to update their sound after the explosion of speed metal reshaped the metal landscape. In a statement, guitarist Glenn Tipton confirmed the conservative nature of the album:
Sometimes in the past we may have come under fire for being too adventurous musically – so we have listened…From start to finish, Redeemer of Souls is 13 songs of pure classic Priest metal.
Judas Priest achieved its universal acclaim for its development of heavy metal into a cogent, distinct art form. Later to become one of the two main pillars of speed metal’s foundation (along with punk), the band has maintained its central status as a metal icon for decades, despite perhaps a natural decline as the band goes into its fifth decade. Redeemer of Souls will be released in America on July 15th via Epic Records.
Tags: glen tipton, Heavy Metal, judas priest, k.k. downing, NWOBHM, Speed Metal
Eh… I think I’ll be sticking with their 70s output plus Painkiller. This song paraphrases a lot of riffs from the former album… in fact, it’s basically Hell Patrol but with a case of low-T.
Not bad, but not necessary. Priest has already left behind an incredible legacy, why continue to release redundant albums? Judging from Tipton’s statement, the band made this album “for the fans”… never a good sign.
What`s the point of an incredible legacy if you cant take a nice steaming dump on it once its ripe???
Yeah, I’m hearing Hell Patrol and a slowed down Painkiller smushed together.
Rob sounds tired. This band has been showing their age since Angel of Retribution. (Pretty much what I expect this album to be a repeat of, with the metuuhhl element cranked up a little more.)
Really weird production choice in the chorus, where it sounds like there was a falsetto scream there but it got intentionally murked waaay down in the mix, maybe so it can be sung the same live. This is not the sound of a confident band.
At least Nostradamus won’t be their swansong.