JUDAS PRIEST – INVINCIBLE SHIELD

(Andy Synn has a lot of love for the new album from a little band called Judas Priest)

It’s been well-documented by now, I’m sure, but it’s worth reiterating that – despite our slowly growing profile (and, as an aside, let me say thank you to all of you for continuing to read, and recommend, our various well-intentioned witterings) – our focus here at NCS is more on covering and critiquing (positively, for the most part) less well-known and more underground/under-exposed acts, rather than the big names and famous faces.

So when a little bird told me about a new album from a bunch of up-and-coming young whippersnappers by the name of Judas Priest – great name by the way guys, I’m surprised it wasn’t already taken – I decided to take a chance and give Invincible Shield a listen, since it’s always cool to be able to say you were into a band right before they blew up, right?

There’s very little question, once the ear-worm riff-refrain of electrifying opener “Panic Attack” kicks in, that Judas Priest clearly possess an innate and inimitable knack for producing the sort of shamelessly hooky, irresistibly head-bangable, and utterly unapologetic Heavy Metal that you only usually get from bands with literal decades of experience behind them.

From back-to-back barnburners “The Serpent and the King” and the increasingly epic “Invincible Shield”, through the steely grooves of future live anthem “Devil in Disguise” and the hard rockin’ hooks and crowd-pleasing chorus of “Gates of Hell”, to the absolutely stunning “As God Is My Witness” (arguably the best song on an album full of stand-out moments) and the similarly superb “Trial By Fire”, the first forty minutes or so are a veritable masterclass in relentlessly tight riffage, ridiculously infectious melodies, and rock-solid, all killer no filler, songwriting, with the guitar duo of Glenn Tipton and Richie Faulkner and the rhythmic partnership of Ian Hill and Scott Travis so in sync with one another that you’d think they’d been doing this for years.

And, of course, it’s obvious that the band have struck gold in the form of leather-clad, whip-wielding heartthrob Rob Halford, who possesses the sort of instantly iconic voice that’s equal parts classic and timeless, whether he’s spitting venom, screaming for vengeance, or soaring on wings of sadness (with his more restrained and poignant performance on “Crown of Horns” being one of his many highlights), and I predict big things for this fresh-faced young hellion in the future.

Of course, Invincible Shield isn’t quite as bulletproof as its title suggests – the band do drop their guard a little near the end, delivering a couple of weaker shots that lack the power and potency of the album’s early assault (although closer “Giants in the Sky” stills ends things on a high note, both figuratively and literally) – but overall it’s such an incredibly strong collection of songs (particularly during its iron-clad first half) that it shouldn’t be long before the name “Judas Priest” becomes synonymous with everything that’s great about Heavy Metal.