9.2
Judas Priest thrashing! And doing a damn fine job of it. Besides Jugulator, this is definately their heaviest cd. But, unlike Jugulator's heavyness which doesn't accomplish much, this cd rolls along excellently. The title track is an excellent fast song that has one of the greatest guitar solo's I have ever heard in my life. The introduction to Metal Meltdown also has some blazing guitars. A Touch of Evil and Nightcrawler move right along while managing to give you an eerie from their lyrics. Great Songwriting all over this cd. Between The Hammer And The Anvil and All Guns Blazing also have flaming hot riffs. I don't know about you, but I am glad that the Priest finally got away from their 80's image and sound. I won't miss it. Anyways, this cd is full of classic Priest songs on it. The only Priest cd that tops this one is Screaming For Vengeance.
Best Songs:Painkiller, Nightcrawler, A Touch of Evil
JUGULATOR
7.7
After the loss of longtime frontman Rob Halford and no new material for seven years, it seemed as though Judas Priest were finished and done with heavy metal. But they showed everyone that the Priest is still alive with one of the heaviest cd's of 1997. New singer Tim "Ripper" Owens shows that he is an excellent replacement for Halford with his excellent range from high notes to low notes. Fans of "Painkiller" should eat this cd up. The constant double bass drum pounding with excellent guitar work on top of that is back, and it's heavier than ever. Fans of the 70's and 80's Priest material will be blown away with the heaviness, but don't let that stop you because this cd has got some instant classics on it. The two best songs are "Burn In Hell" and "Cathedral Spires." Burn In Hell is probably there best song in 10 years and Cathedral Spires is in the top five. Bullest Train is another really good song with an awesome two guitar intro. "Abductors" and "Blood Stained" are very good as well. Now for the bad news. The guitar solos are, at best, average. It sounds like Tipton and Downing got together and did all the solos in five minutes with no real goal except for speed. Also, a few of the songs get real heavy, but have no true meaning. And finally, with the exception of Burn In Hell and Cathedral Spires, the lyrics are stupid. Owens does an excellent job of singing, but half the time what he is singing about is plain out dumb. Example: Decapitate. All we know is that a guy is losing his head. Why? How does he feel about it? Who knows! I think they just made up stuff as they went with no real idea of where they were going with it. Well, taking all things into consideration, this is still a good cd that shows everyone the Priest ain't done yet.
Best Songs: Burn In Hell, Cathedral Spires, Bullet Train
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