Judas Priest - Firepower

The vibrant, fiery artwork gracing the album’s front cover gives quite a picture of how vibrant the band still are. After a bit of a more power metal-ish tendency that felt a little overblown on Redeemer of Souls, Firepower finds Rob, Glenn, Ian, and Scott fully revived after the blow to their career Nostradamus seemed to take. With the songs feeling more trimmed down of their fat, this time around, and playing into the classic heavy metal that made Judas Priest legendary, Firepower is an impressive eighteenth LP from a band with a legacy as tremendous as Judas Priest’s. While modern bands rise and fall in part because of their singers’ decreased abilities with age, Rob Halford sounds older, yes, but talented and full of energy indeed at sixty-six. And it’s not just an admirable album for the fact that it’s old dudes rocking well and rocking hard. The band is continuing to expound upon their legendary status. Even though they do play in very familiar, well-traversed classic heavy metal territory, Judas Priest sound powerful and ambitious, not in the sense of trying to make some avant garde musical change or make some convoluted concept album, but rather simply putting in as much as they can to carve visceral songs from ancient stone. Through more modern production, the band’s highlight talents are able to shine through more brilliantly than ever.
There’s really not much to say about this album that doesn’t apply to Priest’s early classics aside from the clearer, crunchier production. The band isn’t trying to reinvent their sound or the genre, just play to their strengths and put every bit of energy they have into the album. The title track is certainly a highlight that I can see staying in their live set long after this album’s release (because from the looks of this, they’ll all retire at ninety), full of Rob’s raspy operatic screams and quick-fire riffs. “Rising from the Ruins” contains some of my favorite guitar work on the whole album, much more in the vein of Iron Maiden’s twin guitar attack, and “Lone Wolf” just features a similarly powerfully wailing guitar lead that gives the song so much passion. “Flamethrower” is the only moment where the band (Rob mostly) sound a little clumsy, like they were trying to write this weird melody that just didn’t fit Rob’s voice or his style all that well.
Overall, it’s a solid and impressive release from Judas Priest who still sound hungry, not resolved to retirement or to coasting on the success of their earlier material. Rob sounds capable and bold, and Glenn comes through with another batch of tasty riffs across the board. It’s certainly no classic, but it’s a welcome addition, and fulfills every reasonable request one can make for a new Judas Priest album at this point.

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