Judas Priest makes metal not just for us seasoned folks, but for the younger audiences as well, and while Maiden are stuck in this rut of exceedingly long double albums Judas Priest, ever since Angel of Retribution back in 2005, have been intent on recapturing that Painkiller Priest era, and they have succeeded.  BTW, I do like the non-Halford era albums, Jugulator and Demolition…so there.  The last Priest album, Firepower, from 2018, jumped out of the starting gates and with various components of massive metal moments, speed/thrash moments and moodier sections, that is one of the finest albums the band has done.  Not wanting to rest on their laurels The Metal Godz, with Invincible Shield, may have delivered one of the last great Heavy Metal albums of our time.  I say this with peace and love, but knowing several of the band members well into their 70’s will they ever release another album??  If not, who gives AF, because from start to finish this album smokes….and kicks the ever living crap out of the last Maiden album..not even close.  This album is aggressive and produced beautifully.

“Panic Attack” starts with an atmospheric buildup of Glenn Tipton and Richie Faulkner’s guitars and probably Richie did all the rhythm work, I would assume.  Once the music hits, it’s pure Heavy Metal and Rob Halford, sounds possessed with his vocals and Scott Travis continues to make a believer out of us all as to why he is still one of the greatest metal drummers of all time. Ian Hill’s bass is audible and serviceable as well.  The guitar soloing going on is fantastic and the chorus is catchy and snappy.  How does Halford still hold out those highs?????  The speeding thrashing attack towards the end of the song with the chorus then back to the mid-paced and soloing is outstanding.  This will be their live song opener for their tour, no doubt.

“The Serpent and the King” is up next with a similar mid-paced metal anthem like the album opener.  This song moves to the point that this is circle-pit worthy, no shit, I kid you not.  Excellent drum rolls and the guitar solo at the 2.30 mark will shred your skin from top to bottom.  There is a killer slow-down groove moment as well and with that brutal double bass ending and Halford letting loose with a scream…one cannot catch their breath until the title track choke slams you with the next song. This song moves….. mid-paced, but quicker than the last two songs and Halford singing like a man possessed.  The layered chorus moments are spectacular.  This song has some metal moments pulling from all of their albums and the rhythm section is bludgeoning.

“As God Is My Witness”, with that opening guitar slide and right into the bludgeoning proto mid-paced speed metal attack, brings in that Painkiller element and this is one of the best songs Judas Priest has done in recent memory.  The chorus is epic and slows down the song and then back into that crushing metal attack.  That isolated guitar riff at the 1.15 mark returns and BOOM…right into that bludgeoning attack.  Played live this song could lay everyone out in 0.0 seconds.  The song picks up a little thrash gallop and just beautifully played and more of that guitar slide action going on.  This song owns, from start to finish.  This edition has 3 extra songs and they fit great on the album.

“Fight of Your Life” is poppier metal and “Vicious Circle” is an epic and killer metal song and at only 3 minutes the band fits a lot into this song.  “The Lodger” has some great lyrics, “Vengeance is miiiiinnneee, said The Lodger”….so catchy and this moment is a shout-out to my close friend Jason “Slips Majinsky”, he worships this new Priest and really enjoys this song.  This is a great slow brooding number and is similar in nature to the regular edition album closer “Giants in the Sky”.  Across the album, there are slower moments such as “Crown of Horns”.  It’s a moody song, with still some bombastic vocal and musical moments.

Judas Priest’s Invincible Shield comes in various editions and this deluxe hardcover has an expanded booklet and the 3 extra songs.  The presentation matches the music – it’s incredible.  This album has it all, true Heavy Metal, with nods to all of the Priest era material, from metal anthem moments, slow and brooding sections and then that proto speed/thrash metal they ushered in with the 1990 untouchable Painkiller album, saw them on that killer tour.

This is a metal album for all age groups and keeping the average song length to four and a half minutes showcases a band knowing how to hit the fans square between the eyes and not bore them.  It’s one of the strongest Judas Priest albums of all time…and one of this year’s very best albums.  To me, no it is not better than Painkiller.  But remember I have been listening to that album for decades and I cannot make that jump so early in the release of this album, to make such a claim.  But as one of the more “extreme”, if you will, Judas Priest albums, Invincible Shield fits perfectly with the Halford-led Painkiller, Angel of Retribution, and Firepower albums.  Scorching, memorable, and expertly played Judas Priest has returned to kick our asses once again.  Buy or Die!!

When the link to download a promo of Krokus’ latest arrived in my inbox, I rolled my eyes. I never was a big fan of the band in their heyday, and I doubted they could do anything to win me over at this late date. But about halfway through the second track, “Hoodoo Woman,” I was stunned to find myself grooving along to the 1970s Aerosmith feel of the track. I had pictures of that goofy video for “Screaming in the Night,” and I couldn’t believe I was really digging this.

Hoodoo is a stripped-down affair with a heavy blues rock influence. Much of it sounds like Bon Scott-era AC/DC, but surprisingly, that’s also a big part of the charm of the record for me. It’s very much a 1970s hard rock affair, but it sounds quite authentic and genuine. There’s a little of Aerosmith here and there, a bit of ZZ Top on the riff of “Rock ‘n’ Roll Handshake,” a touch of Guns ‘n’ Roses on “In My Blood,” and a taste of Judas Priest’s more old-fashioned rock ‘n’ roll numbers on “Firestar.”

There are some losers on the record. A cover of “Born to Be Wild” is always a bad idea, and even worse when you decide to turn it into a 1980s hard rocker. “Ride Into the Sun” gives me something closer to what I expected, echoing “Screaming in the Night” a little. But the few misses are more than made up for by tasty, fun-loving nuggets like “Drive It In,” “In My Blood” and “Dirty Street.”

There’s not an original note anywhere on this record, but still I’m loving it. It’s a straight-up, no frills collection of 1970s blues-based, High Voltage hard rock and it’s about as cool as it gets.

So here is 2 disc DVD of that album, re-mastered in 5.1 Dolby audio and expected visual improvements and loaded with a second CD of extras.

First off, this sounds AMAZING.  Though not able to hide Dickenson’s rough start to “Aces High”, the sound quality is perfect with Steve Harris’ twang being perfectly clear and the guitars of Mrs. Murray and Smith being rich, full and having as much clarity as any studio effort. Visually, it’s as you’d expect, a slight improvement over the original 35 mm recording, but not quite Hi-Def, but truthfully, visually, it’s the expected array of crowd shots, Dickenson/Harris close ups and long shots of the extravagant sets.  And to be honest, get ready for A) a LOT of Spandex, lighters and mullets, and B) LOADS of Dickenson’s package as he strides the amps for most of the show.

Still, the 13 tracks that comprise disc 1 are pure nostalgic joy, as much so as the original album. Tracks like “The Trooper”, “Revelations”, “Hallowed Be Thy Name”, “Number of the Beast”, full 13 minutes of “Rime of the Ancient Mariner” and “Running Free”, have simply stood the test of time, even if the band’s attire has not.  Also, you get uncut recordings of the four night run, including Dickenson’s humorous if rather British between song banter. However, you do not get the second disc of material that came with the original album, the 5 songs that were recorded at the Hammersmith Odeon that same year, which isn’t so bad because those tracks felt like tack-ons anyway.

What you do get is a second DVD that has over 2 hours of extra footage that includes 50 minutes of the Rock In Rio ’85 concert (featuring the bands largest crowd-over 350,000), that basically the same songs from the Long Beach disc, part two of the History of Iron Maiden documentary, the Behind The Iron Curtain documentary (an interesting behind the scenes documentary of a one of the first western bands to play a major concert on the other side of the Berlin Wall), a short USA tour piece and artwork/photo gallery and video clips for “Aces High” and “Piece of Mind”.

Most casual metal fans will have seen of heard the Live After Death material, and most die hard Maiden fans will probably seen or heard all the extras in some form or other considering Maiden’s propensity for releasing tons of live and rare stuff every week, however the fantastic re-mastering of the Live After Death material, plus all the extras contained in one place make this an essential piece of Maiden (and metal) history all on one great package.