Any time, a new project created by the Metal God himself, is a big issue for the Metal society.     Since I laid my hands on Halford’s new album, I had the need to listen to it all at once.  Their previous effort called Winter Songs was quite a disappointment. The album contained mostly Christmas songs of no particular interest whatsoever. So I kept a slight hope that their new creation wouldn’t be as bad as the previous one. And thank God I was right. What we have here is a very good Metal conception. The good moments of this album are definitely dominating against the few bad moments. Of course, I have to confess that my first contact with the album came through You Tube when I saw their new video which preceded their new project. I was terrified by what I initially saw; the song is called “Made of Metal” which must be the worst thing they ever made, accompanied with one of their worst videos. I was only relieved when I listened the rest of the album which is, technically speaking, of a very high level. It contains lots of elements from Halford’s first two personal projects. And more specifically from the Crucible album.  It is quite obvious that quite some modern Metal influences can be found in this album, however it is impossible not to notice the Priest echoes. Songs like “fire and Ice”, speed of sound” and “Thunder and lightning” constantly remind us the sound of the Metal gods, the mighty Judas Priest!!! To be honest, however, the song which made quite an impression to me was clean of Judas Priest influences. Extraordinary structures, amazing lyrics and impressive guitar leads is what we find in “Like There’s no Tomorrow”. Also notable are the keyboards just before and after the verse of “We Own the Night”.

Roy Z ‘s production is somehow dull but is achieving the desirable setting which completes the album’s atmosphere. And with no reasonable doubt Rob Halford’s performance is literally lifting the album in another dimension.  Sometimes his interpretion seems harsh while at times melancholic and accusing (“Heartless”). It would be inappropriate not to mention Mike Chlasciak’s guitars, Mike Davis’s bass, and the vicious Bobby Jarzombek’s drumming.

In conclusion, I can say that the new Halford album in general, is a pretty high quality Metal album, with its classic structures and modern touches, but always keeping a high level of composition and preserving the technical status of such a legendary band.

Obtain this album either way, if you are Judas Priest fans or if you just love good solid Heavy Metal.