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Review: Judas Priest - Invincible Shield
Judas Priest
www.judaspriest.com
Invincible Shield

Label: Sony
Year released: 2024
Duration: 1:03:33
Tracks: 14
Genre: Heavy Metal

Rating:
4.5/5


Review online: April 8, 2024
Reviewed by: Sargon the Terrible
Readers' Rating
How do you rate this release?

Rated 4.24/5 (84.8%) (25 Votes)
Review

After a long period of substandard/uneven albums like Nostradamus or Redeemer of Souls, Priest now seem to be into a late-career renaissance. I was suspicious when they claimed they were retiring and then didn't do that, and with KK gone, how good could they be? I have always thought this band was overrated, and for a long time they definitely were, but they seem to have finally put out an album I would call a worthy successor to Painkiller.

These guys are old, and it's sobering to realize they are only a few years younger than my dad and can still kick this hard. Aside from new guitarist Richie Faulkner, this is the same crew that cranked out classics like "All Guns Blazing" and "Leather Rebel" and Faulkner gets a pass as he was badass enough to suffer an aortic dissection onstage and finish the show before he went for open heart surgery. Respect, man.

All that is to say that this doesn't sound like an old, worn-out band, this sounds like Priest at full power, with those signature propulsive, twin-axe riffs and leads with Rob still wailing on the vocals. Maybe he doesn't abuse the highs like he used to, but he still has them, and unlike a lot of aging singers, his tone still sounds good. The production is fucking stellar, giving the instruments just the right balance, the guitar sound has grit and bite, and Rob isn't overproduced and you can hear him clearly.

I wanted to be skeptical of this one, I was ready for it to be average and hyped up by fanboys and not really that good, but it is good. It's so good it almost gets them off the hook for Jugulator—almost. This is a Priest album that isn't just for fans, it proudly shows off exactly what the band is good at. The sound of one of the original metal bands doing what they do better than they have in over 30 years.

Additional Information

- Deluxe Edition with 3 bonus tracks

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