When I picked “NO CLEAN SINGING” as the name for this site, it was a reaction to the pollution of good metal with crappy clean vocals — a reaction produced by some specific events at a specific period of time. But it wasn’t a reaction to the likes of Judas Priest. They’re an exception to our Rule (one of many). And Priest are back with a new album and a new song, and they’re both named “Redeemer of Souls”.
Now don’t get me wrong: I still have a low tolerance for clean singing in metal, and I’m not one of those people who worship at the altar of seminal heavy metal bands like Priest, nor do I care very much for the waves of power metal bands that Priest inspired (it’s my least favorite genre of metal). But there are certain Priest classics that still fire me up (possibly for nostalgic reasons as much as anything else), and I do like the title song of the new album, even though Halford doesn’t hit those astonishing high notes he used to reach. It maketh me to hold the invisible oranges.
Redeemer of Souls is due for release in the US on July 15 and in the UK on July 14. Other release dates can be found here. Here’s the title track:
7 Responses to “THERE IS A NEW JUDAS PRIEST SONG (“REDEEMER OF SOULS”)”
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I know you’re not bagging on him, but as a counterpoint, Halford is 62 years old. After seeing Priest a couple of years ago, I was astonished at how well his voice has held up. I hope I’m that metal at 62.
For extra sad comparisons, see Axl Rose, who is 10 years younger than Halford, and the pitiable goose honks he insists on doing live these days.
No question about it. Especially for his age, he still has an amazing voice for this kind of music.
Not bad. Not quite the vintage Priest I know and love, but dammit, it ain’t bad for a band well into their sixties.
I love Priest. This song is pretty good, I’m getting fired up for the new album. Is it July yet?
It’s OK. Not quite rocking my world, but good in a playing-it-safe kind of way. If you told me this was a b-side from the “Ram It Down” years, I would believe you. I imagine people who are still huge into Priest will love this.
they still have it after all these years, it’s hard to not love Judas Priest
On a quasi-related note, what do you actually dislike? I know part of how this blog is written is that you only write about things you like, but we don’t have a basis for comparison that way..Any chance you could break the tradition, just as the blog occasionally writes about clean singing, and write about things you don’t like?