Year: 2024
Total Time: 52:36
Label: Sony Music
Who said that miracles do not happen in our days? One of those miracles happened a few days ago with the new album of JUDAS PRIEST! Even if they are already half a century old as a band, the evergreen leaders of Heavy Metal continue relentlessly to give lessons on how this music should be played. The news that JUDAS PRIEST will release a new album in 2024 were spread earlier the previous year and in early October we learned the name. The album consists of 11 tracks while in the deluxe edition there are 3 more tracks as bonus, so from 52 minutes duration we go to almost 64 minutes of time.
Where from should we start talking about this album..? Should we talk about the Metal God whose voice is like listening to a singer in the early years of his youth? Should we say about the guitaristic duo Glenn Tipton and Ritchie Faulkner who combine their tunes so perfectly in riffs and solos, that make the six-strings goddesses get on fire! On the bass Ian Hill and on the drums Scott Travis do a great job, completing perfectly the magic five! “Invicible Shield” as an album is the best the band has released since the “Painkiller” era. Yes, “Firepower” is a very good and remarkable album, but here we are dealing with an even better release.
Few bands on the planet can make such a good album, especially when they have already completed 50 years of history and recorded 19 full-length studio albums. Songs like “Trial By Fire”, “Sons Of Thunder”, “Gates Of Hell” prove why JUDAS PRIEST is one of the greatest bands of all time! “Invicible Shield” is definitely in the top 10 albums of the British Heavy Metallers, leaving behind great releases of the band. The difficult job of creating the cover in such a release has been undertaken by the very experienced and remarkable artist Mark Wilkinson, who has already done covers for other PRIEST albums (such as “Painkiller”), as well as IRON MAIDEN’s latest release “Senjutsu “. The album was produced by the experienced Andy Sneap who doesn’t need a special introduction.
In conclusion, “Invicible Shield” is an album that the audience will surely love and has already taken its place among the best albums of the year! JUDAS PRIEST is an important part in the history of Heavy Metal and with this album it is stated that they are not by luck among the leaders of the field. I’m going to quote a lyric from ‘Gates Of Hell’ which includes all the meaning of this album…
”Sign on the line and let the priest sell your soul”
….so that’s what you do and leave everything else in the hands of the Gods from Birmingham.
Rating: 9/10
Editor: Andreas Fytros
Related Link: JUDAS PRIEST – Official Page
