Review Summary: Priest return from rock opera territory with a largely by-the-numbers release. Unfortunately, fans may be the only ones digging on this.
Black Sabbath (and to a lesser extent, Led Zeppelin) may be responsible for “inventing” heavy metal, but it was the mighty, leather-clad Judas Priest who should be credited with defining what we commonly refer to as metal today. Priest was the band responsible for gradually subtracting the blues element out of heavy rock, and while there is certainly nothing negative about blues-based rock, we most likely would never know what thrash metal is - and in turn the various forms of extreme metal that came later – without this crucial shift in style. While purging the blues from their equation during their ‘70s years, Priest added a hefty dose of drama into their sound to balance things out (most likely influenced by Queen more than any other) and these kinds of dramatics can be seen all over the metal sphere today in bands like Candlemass and Blind Guardian. So when presented with a new album from such a monumentally important act in the pantheon of heavy metal, this late in their career at that, one has to ask “What could they possibly have to prove in 2014? Can I expect anything new? Is Judas Priest still the band flying the flag for metal?”
The answers are “Nothing” and “No” “Not anymore”. After their bloated rock opera experiment with the unnecessarily long double album Nostradamus in 2008, Priest must have decided to play it safe and just kick out the jams with Redeemer of Souls. And they play it safe indeed. While there are plenty of exciting, yet admittedly somewhat generic moments to be found among the standard edition’s 13 tracks like the majestic “Battle Cry”, the epic “Halls of Valhalla” and the pummeling opener “Dragonaut”, there are some tracks that have about as much excitement as a moldy peach. The title track in particular sounds nothing short of a geriatric attempt at making metal, and the “anthem” “March of the Damned” feels the same, just with the added flavor of the band trying to make something on par with similar songs in their discography like “Take on the World” and “United”, and what a nasty flavor it is. However, I’m pleased to say that these are the only glaring flaws on the album, musically speaking. But production-wise, this affair experiences problems that surpass anything on the record.
It is very unfortunate to report that this album’s production feels thin and cheap, even lifeless at times. There is not a single instrument or vocal that sounds up to par with modern metal, or even previous Judas Priest albums like Angel of Retribution or the aforementioned Nostradamus. The way the vocals sit in the mix is nothing but awkward and the reverb effect on them doesn’t help anything at all. The guitars have a somewhat flaccid sound, not quite the thick crunch that is preferred in heavy metal. Even the drums sound a tad dark and sometimes buried in the mix, not to mention the lackluster snare tone. While the performances are very satisfactory all around (Halford can still wail!) the recording itself does not do any justice to this music, as good as it tends to be in its hour-long duration. What we have is a sadly frail recording lacking in “umph” and electric energy that is expected in metal music, even though the music itself usually to hits the mark.
Redeemer of Souls is in a strange position in Judas Priest’s cannon of releases. While a very decent album today, one could imagine this album being a near classic if it was released in the late ‘70s or early ‘80s with that era’s production and the fire and energy of the band in its younger years. However, it is an album that just came out a couple months ago, and in this age we are being served a largely generic platter of oddly produced traditional metal played by 60 year old men. The effect this old-style of metal has today is minimal, and while this will please most diehard Priest fans to some degree (me included), anyone headbanging to the latest releases by today’s extreme metal trailblazers are likely to be bored out of their minds throughout the majority of this by-the-numbers offering.
