Rolling Metal Thread 2014

not that anybody asked, but here was my liveblog of the new Priest earlier.

Dragonaut - This is a solid (if not classic) opener that uses Halford's aging vocals well. Not really an overtly memorable chorus, but the songwriting comes out of the gate much better than 2005's overrated Angel of Retribution did. (I never did hear all of the bloated Nostradamus)

Redeemer of Souls - This stylistically harkens back to Painkiller-era type songs (sauntering at a "Hell Patrol"-esque pace) and the chorus has some faint trickles of European power metal. This is fist-pumping catchy, and the guitar work is impeccable. Halford's limitations are even more evident here (very few high notes), but it's a very good example of using limitations to your advantage. He'll be able to sing this one effectively live.

Halls of Valhalla - Interesting introduction: somewhat calls to memory a very early 2000s-Iron Maiden with its octave-separated gleaming guitar melody, which crescendoes into the nasty main riff.

Oh... did I mention the lack of high notes in the first two songs? While it's not as effortless as it once was, Rob comes in with a loud shrieketto early on. Yeah!

Great atmospheric chorus - his voice is treated as hell on it, but he sounds sinister and inspired here.

I'm still glad to hear that he's not trying to over-exert himself with what is no longer in his skill set. The bridge puts this one over into classic territory.

P.S. HE DOES DEATH VOCALS ON THIS TRACK

P.S.S. - enough about Rob. "No K.K. Downing" was a big concern for me, but instrumentally speaking this is much more interesting than the two albums that preceded this one. More tasty lead breaks, riffs that don't sound like they were lazily cobbled together and actually 'go' somewhere.

Sword of Damocles - This one didn't really stick out to me. Again, there are minute sprinkles of Euro power metal embedded into the introduction.

Overall not a 'bad' tune, but this one seems a little more Priest-by-numbers than the previous three.

March of the Damned - Feels like it's going for a "Take on the World" vibe (from 1978's Hell Bent for Leather). It pulls it off extremely well - anthemic and triumphant sounding, with an almost cock-rocky chorus that thankfully avoids skirting into skeeziness.

Down in Flames - This intro is reminiscent of many of the intros from Defenders of the Faith, with smooth harmonic leads setting the blueprint for the song to come. Chorus could fit on a Screaming for Vengeance era track, particularly the more radio-friendly numbers. Halford also does a call and response with himself. Imagine a world with two Halfords. There also appears to be a recorded mistake of a missed drumbeat but maybe I'm hard of hearing.

An excellent bridge with a great twin guitar lead abruptly segues into a ripping solo and it's easy to forget K.K. is gone. This song could easily get radio play if rock radio had any teeth these days.

Hell and Back - The moment I dreaded: the first ballad. Rob sang these with vigor and conviction in his earlier days but recent Priest ballads have been labored and plodding - let's hope this one doesn't veer into that territory.

Well, then! Looks like it was a bait-and-switch, as the brief balladry gives way to a march tempo, and a riff that seems like a British Steel outtake.

This song feels very slight - like "Sword of Damocles", it doesn't feel as effortless as the others. The verse melody is essentially there to fill space.

This song reminds me of the elements that I didn't like so much on British Steel.

Cold Blooded - Another 'Defenders'-sounding intro. This tune has the feel of an epic power ballad. The verse is entrancing, though this is definitely somewhat of a new wrinkle for Priest, sonically. The chorus doesn't quite match up to the verse but it is good.

Instrumentally we again hear dashes of Euro power-metal but it still decidedly remains Priest on the outside. Most importantly, it's musically interesting.

Metalizer - The shrieketto is back - he's using it sparingly, which is a wise decision. This tune has an attitude, but Rob is guilty of some brief vocal ugliness in the chorus that fortunately subsides quickly. It's a nice bridge to the album. So far so good!

Crossfire - Ten seconds in and I'm asking myself "What is this, an outtake from 'Rocka Rolla'"? I can only assume this is a red herring opening.

And...I'm wrong. They've twisted the intro riff into more of a snarling groovy thing. This is another tune that's not immediately grabbing me. It borders a little on the 80's hard rock you'd hear in strip clubs at times, which is somewhat off-putting.

Secrets of the Dead - This seems to be another Maiden cross-pollination. Though musically it has more in common with modern metal, I can't help but get a Seventh Son of a Seventh Son feel to the mood of the song. And it is effective!

Battle Cry - The opening is cheesy in the kind of delicious ironic way we metalheads love. Yet another one of those Defenders-kissed harmonic leads. The main riff could have fit on a Painkiller track. Halford tackles the melody with panache. This is quite possibly the best song on the album. it also reminds me somewhat of Dio-era Sabbath's "Die Young" in its intensity.

The vocals in the chorus test Halford much, much more than they would have 20 (hell, even 10) years ago, but he sounds more like an aging metal elder statesman than someone who is incapable. His falsetto mostly holds up.

Chewy metal riffs abound and the interplay is front-to-back focused. Rob throws in one last shrieketto for good measure.

Beginning of the End - This actually reminds me of the moody, calm meanderings of Sad Wings of Destiny...a good thing for sure. Rob sounds at his strongest vocally on this track. It's not really a 'ballad', and I like that they don't ever turn things to 11 and let this tune breathe. It's a nice, resolute way to close out the album.

Conclusion: Hard to say 'how much' I like this as of yet but overall, I definitely see this as a marked improvement on the two preceding offerings.

My favorite song is the one that didn't stick out for you. :(

haha don't put much stock in that, I almost always seem to dislike other's favorites. we'll see how I receive it on second listen.

really liking the new Origin, though I like most of their stuff.

and here are the arpeggios, lol

great piece for Pop Matters btw, EZ. definitely some elements I want to look for on my next listen that you touch on.

Thanks! I'm happy to see people taking the time to listen, especially after the slog of Nostradamus

lol at Origin covering S.O.D.'s "Kill Yourself" on the newie.

Does "Source of Icon O" have any musical or lyrical references to the Emperor song? That title has been taunting me.

I didn't hear the SOD cover, it wasn't in the promo I got. I guess bonus tracks don't count for reviewing purposes.

Here's my review for Burning Ambulance, by the way.

I enjoyed that review even if I disagree with you pretty much entirely about what made Origin great - I love Echoes of Decimation and think the new vocals-up style does them no favors

Glad you enjoyed it! And fair enough; everybody's got their preferences.

I haven't gotten to the bonus disc yet, but yeah, the main Priest album is solid stuff. I initially felt like the songwriting was good, but the performances a bit lacking in punch. After a couple more listens, I'm happy with how unforced it all sounds. They don't seem like they're out to prove anything. It's just a very relaxed, confident, fun, tuneful record.

Maybe an album that needs its own thread?

yeah thanks erik for repping the priest album so hard, i'm enjoying it a lot

Glad folks are liking it. I'm happy to talk about it here or in it's own thread.

What's interesting to me is that the last track on the deluxe edition is literally a thank-you to their fans in song form. Which is cool, not just because it's nice to be appreciated, but also because it implies that to some degree they really want people to hear all 18 songs—the last five aren't leftovers, they're a crucial part of the whole. Which is sort of how I felt about the bonus tracks on the Black Sabbath album, too.

I love the five bonus tracks, they're lighter in tone, just relaxed and fun. "Snakebite" is totally Turbo-worthy. Just a splendid album overall. I haven't heard another metal album this year that's made me so darn happy.

They've said that the bonus cuts were shifted off because they didn't fit the tone and sequence of the album but they definitely wanted folks to hear them.

Listened to new Priest at work today and just love how there's at least 5 tracks I can get behind & that it makes me want to travel to Indiana to see 'em. I liked Angel of Retribution & saw 'em that tour, so I'm just as stoked.

I was deep into Angel of Retribution as part of the whole Stereogum project I was immersed in this past month - appearing next week, I hear - and to this day I absolutely love two thirds of it. The other third is "Loch Ness", which I still can't get over.

I don't mind "Loch Ness"; "Angel" and "Worth Fighting For" are the tracks that sink that album for me.

lol "Angel" is the song that made me wonder whether Rob should be singing anymore. he had no power in his voice on that song.

which is precisely why I like the official album closer on this one so much. he has that rich baritone that he had in his earlier days resonating throughout the song.

alright relistening now and I'm on "Sword of Damocles". it's still not a favorite on the album (mostly as it still sounds to me like an Iron Maiden-esque track from "Brave New World"), but I actually like this a lot better the second time. particularly the interlude in the middle of the song.

I don't know that the other two that didn't stick out to me are going to fare better.

Sword of Damocles includes the line "Beware of the jester that sings". All arguments are invalid.

lol

"March of the Damned" is so goddamn badass.

on the new album from Georgia instrumental metal/hard rock trio Lazer/Wulf:

The Beast of Left and Right was written to be a palindrome, here is an explanation from the band: "As far as the symmetricality, we wrote the album to be a palindrome – that is, it's the same backwards and forwards. The album is in two distinct halves, Left and Right, and we wrote them to be the "opposite" of each other. On the full 9-track version that's on CD, track 1 uses the exact same chords, riffs and drum tracks as track 9 but one is major and the other is minor; track 2 lyrically opposes track 8 (and both are re-recordings from our EP); track 3 uses the rhythm of track 7 backwards (we even recorded the guitars for track 3 backwards and reversed them to the version that's on the album); track 4 uses all the same drum parts and melodies as track 6 but the song structure is backwards, and 5 is the center track – no song opposes it, but it incorporates parts of the songs on either side of it. The idea is that either way you choose, Left or Right, the paths are the same."

well there goes someone's MA thesis in 2024

i kinda dig these kinds of things, where bands try to do ... i dunno, unconventional? clever ... things with album structure. though i can't think of any good examples right now ...

that's fine. it's a thing. but explaining it??

Way less involved than the above, but didn't Mayhem intend GDoW to be the continuation of Wolf's Lair Abyss? I remember GDoW had a track listing dividing it into parts 2 and 3 -- not to mention the riff that began the album was the riff that ended WLA. I think.

that's fine. it's a thing. but explaining it??

if you try to do something cool with structure and don't completely over-sell it literally no-one will notice

zero critics, zero listeners, zero everybody. oversell or forget about it

I'm with aerosmith on the overselling. I was not going to listen to that Lazer/Wulf album. Now I am marginally likely to try it.

cmon that's like saying if you hid A E R O in the notes of one of your compositions no one would ever notice

AVE SATHANAS

All the best pirate metal is written in the key of R.

http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/19440-black-anvil-hail-death/

j. robbins-produced!

Anyone remember Rat Skates? Dude drummed on the first two Overkill records before vanishing from music and then suddenly a few years ago turning up as a documentarian of the scene that he abandoned.

Anyway, he and I went at it a couple years ago because he's a huge Tea Bagger now and I called him on some of his dumb comments. We unfriended each other and I assumed that would be the last I heard of him.

But then I saw this headline: Conservative rocker uses Hitler and Holocaust footage in strange anti-’dictator’ video

And of course it was Rat Skates... From the article:

The conservative heavy metal musician behind the strange “war on Christmas” video that aired on MSNBC last year released another bizarre clip, this one using graphic Holocaust footage to apparently downplay the idea of global warming.

The video, “Government dictators vs climate change,” opens with a mix of disaster footage and the question, “What has been our greatest threat in the last 100 years?” After more footage, the screen reads, “Total killed by unpredictable climate: over 5 million.”

At that point, the video shifts to footage of Hitler, then footage of Holocaust victims, including a nude woman being dropped into a mass grave, before a rapid-fire collage of not only the Nazi Germany leader, but some of his collaborators and other dictators.

“Total killed by unpredictable men: Over 300 million,” an onscreen message then states. “The equivalent of the entire U.S. population.”

The video concludes with the question, “Ready for Jesus yet?” flashing on the screen, then a person looking toward the White House amid a storm.

Someone at Metal Sludge should give him 20 questions and watch how many dumb things he says.

just bought a front row seat for Priest in Hollywood, FL.

I had concerns w/ how Halford will sound (I've heard some ugly recent recordings), but I found one from 2011 where he does "Victim of Changes" and while he's nowhere near as solid as he was in his 80s (sounds gruffer), he actually sounds pretty good on it.

anybody see them in recent years that can comment?

Halford's adjusted the way he sings many of the songs, and quite creatively I think. The band's still plenty great live.

Saw them in 2007 (tour w/Heaven and Hell, Motörhead, and Testament) and while he doesn't move around a lot onstage (he was wearing a floor-length leather-and-studs overcoat that looked like it weighed about 100 pounds), he didn't have any vocal problems that I noticed.

http://www.centurymedia.com/newsdetailed.aspx?IdNews=14555&IdCompany=3

the dagger album (w/ grave and dismember dudes) that just came out is fun, loose

http://youtu.be/wLFKpWMjVec

I wrote about (and ranked) the entire Judas Priest discography over at Stereogum, for those interested. Including the new album:

http://www.stereogum.com/1691165/judas-priest-albums-from-worst-to-best/

wow i agree 100 percent with that ranking

We agree on Priest's #1.

I havent read this article yet, because the one you did about Rush totally killed my workday (a compliment by the way). I;ll read at home.

My emotion- and memory-based ranking is way different from yours, but I suspect that if I actually listened to all the albums from front to back in order (which I'm about to do for those guys, for a different band), like you did, I might agree with you more. (Except I'm always gonna like Ram It Down way more than any nominally sane person should.)

My own sentimental ranking did change once I deliberately, carefully worked in chronological order. Fanboy me would have put Point of Entry higher, I'm so fond of half that record. And for all its influence on our generation I couldn't bring myself to put Vengeance higher than 9.

Stained Class does fucking rule

Fanboy me would have put Point of Entry higher, I'm so fond of half that record

feel the same way

stained class is the best