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Well it's about time... Four years after Jugulator, Judas Priest finally releases its new studio album (with a zero for the cover "art"..) I was quite apprehensive towards this release after reading interviews where Ripper and Glenn were praising crap such as Godsmack, OzzFest and Limp Bizkit. Fortunately, the album is not nearly as bad as I thought, although I don't think it was worth waiting four years for this. There are a few good songs on there, such as One on One (total headbanging material), Bloodsucker and the ballad Lost and Found. This release is not as "dark sounding" as Jugulator but comes pretty close, definitely in the same vein. But I would like to know why the hell such first rate guitarists as Tipton and Downing decided to downtune their guitars. They don't need to do this shit to sound heavy, leave it for the no-talent mallcore 3-chord players. What is missing on this album is the excellent JP guitar work found on their earlier releases. There aren't any memorable, catchy solos on Demolition, in fact the guitars sound a bit lazy at times - although it is still Tipton and Downing, so it's still better than many - I just expect more from those guys. The downtuning also gives the impression that the guitars are second place at times, while Judas Priest always had predominant guitars. Annoying, annoying. If I want to hear something that sounds like Rammstein, I'll listen to Rammstein. This is also a return to guitar synths... argh. Enough said.

Another unfortunate "enhancement" is the use of electronically-altered vocals. Why? Ripper doesn't need this kind of crap to sound good. In fact I think that negatively affects the vocals on most of the album. At least he's singing. He sounds much better when his voice is left clean of any "enhancements". I guess I could live without the gratuitous use of terms such as "motherfucker" in the lyrics though, another thing they could leave to the mallcore bands who like to impress the kiddies with their fake evilness.

There's some positive things to say, of course, after all this is Judas Priest. The drumming is very good and clear (good thing they can't downtune the drums - hehehe). In fact I'd say the drum work saves a couple of songs on this album. Some songs named above are pretty catchy, but there's nothing in here that has the potential to become a classic.

My expectations for this album were very low, so I got a little more than I expected. But it is still a bit of a deception, another release where I can use the expression "Oh how the mighty have fallen". I wish the guys would have taken their inspiration from the real metal out there, rather than the "trend-of-the-day" crap that's polluting the air waves. Should you buy this? Hell, you probably will, if only out of curiosity. If you didn't like Jugulator however, chances are good that you won't like this either. Overall, the album is slow and heavy, with a couple of fast songs, again overshadowed by the damn downtuning. It is still a "good" album to listen to if you can get past the annoying crap they put in just to be "in", but it'll never get as much playtime here as the classic JP releases. Hell, if you absolutely want to buy some Priest, go for the newly-released remasters, and enjoy the full use of their talent.