Listening Post: Judas Priest - Angel of Retribution

21st Century Priest.



Judas Priest - Angel of Retribution - 2005 (iTunes - Amazon)

Well, this is more like it. From the opening harbinger of doom track Judas Rising, right through the next track Deal with the Devil, we know that we are back in familiar territory. I'm not sure who said, "Hey, remember when we wrote SONGS? Let's do that. Only they'll come in at under 5 minutes and they will sound like...I dunno...Priest?"
By the time we hit Revolution it's clear that, at the very least, the band is playing to its strengths, giving the people what they want and accepting the mantle of Metal Gods once again. Dalliances into RapCore and thrash be damned, Priest is Metal!
There's supposed to be some connection between the Angel on Sad Wings of Destiny and this record. Something about this being a second half to that record. Maybe. I don't know. Sounds like an attempt to cash in and prove that the "old Priest is back!".
There's even a metal ballad, Angel, followed by by the thrash metal, Hellrider, which could fit on most any post-apocalyptic soundtrack.
There are three things immediately noticeable on Angel of Retribution:
1. There are actual songs that keep the wrong excesses in check while playing up the right ones.
2. The band doesn't sound like they are a 10 tentacled beast with no direction.
and 3. Halford is back. I never went into the fact that Ripper Owens was the replacement for Rob on the last two Priest albums, I didn't think it was necessary to rehash what everyone knows. The difference is palpable. Ripper was a hired gun. Halford has a name and cache he brings to the game. He can turn down bad ideas.
Ripper couldn't. He was at the behest of the rest of the band's bad decisions.
Part of what makes this record work for me is that, minus the 14 minute opus about the Loch Ness Monster, this is a reasonably timed record: 41 minutes. Just enough to leave you sated and wanting for more.
If Rick Rubin was called in to produce Priest, I imagine that this is exactly the kind of record he would have come up with. Satisfying the fans of old, sounding fresh and relevant, never once pretending to be anything different than what they are:
Gods of Metal.

Grade B+
A Side: Revolution,, Judas Rising, Deal with the Devil
BlindSide: Hellrider
DownSide: Lochness. For so many reasons. first, it's 14 minutes long. Second, it SCREAMS Spinal Tap. Third, Here are the lyrics:
GREY MIST DRIFTS UPON THE WATER
THE MIRRORED SURFACE MOVES
AWAKENED OF THIS PRESCENCE
DISPELLING LEGENDS PROOF

A BEASTLY HEAD OF ONYX
WITH EYES SET COALS OF FIRE
IT'S LEATHERED HIDE
GLIDES GLISTENING
ASCENDS THE HEATHERED BRIAR

THIS LEGEND LIVES
THROUGH CENTURIES
EVOKING HISTORY'S MEMORIES
PREVAILING IN ETERNITIES ON AND ON AND ON

Chorus:
LOCHNESS CONFESS YOUR TERROR OF THE DEEP
LOCHNESS DISTRESS
MALINGERS WHAT YOU KEEP
LOCHNESS PROTECTS MONSTROSITY
LOCHNESS CONFESS TO ME

SOMEHOW IT HEEDS THE PIPER
FROM BATTLEMENTS THAT CALL
FROM SIDE TO SIDE IT PONDERS
IMPASSIONED IN THE SKULL

THIS HIGHLAND LAIR OF MYSTERY
RETAINS A LOST WORLD'S EMPATHY
RESILIANT TO DISCOVERY ON AND ON AND ON

THIS LEGEND LIVES
THROUGH CENTURIES
EVOKING HISTORY'S MEMORIES
PREVAILING IN ETERNITY
YOUR SECRET LIES SAFE WITH ME

THIS CREATURES PERIL FROM DECEASE
IMPLORES TO MANKIND FOR RELEASE
A LEGACY TO REST IN PEACE AND ON AND ON AND ON

I rest my case.