Judas Priest – Nostradamus
Epic
www.judaspriest.com

Rating: B+

The Metal Gods are back with the most bombastic release of their 30+ year career. The double CD is a concept album on the life of soothsayer Nostradamus. Instead of just writing mindless metal around the predictions of Nostradamus, Priest take it a step further and delve into the mind of the predictor. The result is a masterpiece of music that shows many new sides to the band.

For starters, Rob Halford sings many songs in a style that can only be described as a mutation of Pavarotti and Queensryche’s Geoff Tate. Disc one is a bit slow paced and surreal. "Revelations" starts the story off with a kick while "War" and "Pestilence and Plague" are droning and eerie. The second disc sees the band pick up the pace and add trademarked Judas Priest sounds into the musical experiment. "Alone" is a rocker as is "Visions." The title track finally sees Halford screaming as only he can do while "Future of Mankind" ends the epic on a bang.

It has been a couple of years since Priest reunited with singer Halford and released a traditional sounding Priest record in Angel of Retribution. The album was a success and brought the masses back to the band. Instead of playing it safe, Priest decided to take a risk – both musically and professionally. Guitarists KK Downing and Glenn Tipton both deliver standout performances albeit without succumbing to the pressures of playing inside the safety net of Priest standards. There are plenty of solos but there is also acoustic guitar and plenty of melody and harmony. The band reaches deep down to accent the storyline instead of just rocking their balls off.

Don’t be fooled though as Priest have not abandoned their legacy. Instead they have succeeded in pulling off a very special album that sees all members of the band delivering the goods in a new way. Nostradamus proves old dogs can indeed learn new tricks. This double-disk is not just for Priest fans as all music lovers will appreciate the painstaking effort that went into the making of this album. This one is winner.

– Jeb Wright