Judas Priest - Redeemer Of Souls review
| Band: | Judas Priest |
| Album: | Redeemer Of Souls |
| Style: | Heavy metal |
| Release date: | July 08, 2014 |
| A review by: | ScreamingSteelUS |
Disc I
01. Dragonaut
02. Redeemer Of Souls
03. Halls Of Valhalla
04. Sword Of Damocles
05. March Of The Damned
06. Down In Flames
07. Hell & Back
08. Cold Blooded
09. Metalizer
10. Crossfire
11. Secrets Of The Dead
12. Battle Cry
13. Beginning Of The End
Disc II [Deluxe Edition bonus]
01. Snakebite
02. Tears Of Blood
03. Creatures
04. Bring It On
05. Never Forget
Quietly setting aside the musty orchestrations and unfamiliar, off-putting theatrics that suffocated Nostradamus, Judas Priest have once again decided to ditch all excessive trappings for a "good, old-fashioned" sort of album.
The opener, "Dragonaut" (no, not the Sleep song), begins the album rather inauspiciously. Mid-paced and wanting imagination, the song trots along with a simplicity that would have been catchy, gutsy Judas Priest 30 years ago, but now sounds played-out by the second chorus. Songs like "March Of The Damned," "Hell & Back," and "Cold Blooded" suffer the same fate; they would make acceptable filler on Point Of Entry or British Steel, but they don't have much more potential. As many have already pointed out, the production raises a lot of questions - "why?" being a common one. This album didn't exactly need another drain on its soul.
It's no secret that Judas Priest are getting old, especially after the distressingly lackadaisical performances on this album. Of course, they sound pretty damn good for a band whose debut album dropped four decades ago, and fronting a metal band at 62 is no small feat. Kudos to them for persevering for all these years. Yet at some point these qualifiers can no longer fully make up for the ravages of time.
You might hear some high notes in the background, but Rob Halford cannot muster his trademark legendary power with any consistency. When he ventures beyond his mid-ranged parts, he quavers, breaks, and stops just short of failing. "Battle Cry," while otherwise a highlight of the album, offers one of the best demonstrations of Halford's ailing vocals. Fortunately, he is sensible about his abilities, and doesn't stretch himself too recklessly; while Halford maintains that the lack of high notes was a stylistic choice rather than a physical limitation, it would not be unreasonable to assume that one begat the other. With K.K. Downing also down for the count, Judas Priest hardly operate at full capacity these days; Richie Faulkner does a fine job of covering the bases, but this isn't exactly just a flesh wound.
To their credit, Judas Priest have faithfully fulfilled one of the greatest demands fans make of the bands they love: to write an album that sounds like albums they have already released. In throwing off the chains of Nostradamus, Judas Priest have additionally bypassed several other albums and landed squarely in 1980. Redeemer Of Souls could easily be an odds-and-sods compilation from the band's distant past, but due to the quality of the songs as much as their sonic style. There are a few worthwhile songs to be found, such as "Sword Of Damocles," "Halls Of Valhalla," and the title track. Overall, the songwriting is fairly passable - but when other factors come into play, Redeemer Of Souls turns out much weaker than it could have.
It is always disappointing when an extraordinary band like Judas Priest releases something that is far from extraordinary. While the title track, "Battle Cry," and a few other choice moments from Redeemer Of Souls make strong cases for their existence, this album ultimately amounts to little more than some average Priest weighed down by shoddy production and the simple effects of aging. In my heart I know that I should not enjoy Redeemer Of Souls as much as I do, and few others will; I may return to this album from time to time, and it has grown on me, but let's hope that Judas Priest have something much better up their sleeves to leave us with.
Rating breakdown
| Performance: | 7 |
| Songwriting: | 7 |
| Originality: | 5 |
| Production: | 5 |
 | Written on 15.07.2014 by I'm the reviewer, and that means my opinion is correct. |
Comments
Comments: 28
Visited by: 408 users
| CobiWan1993 Secundum Filium Posts: 1365  |
Good review, I agree with much of what's said here. The production is definitely crap and the band sounds tired, though they managed to make a few highlights for me.
---- Ordinary men hate solitude. But the Master makes use of it, embracing his aloneness, realizing he is one with the whole universe (Lao Tzu).
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| TheMAGAmvm Soycrusher Posts: 1086  |
Pretty unbiased review and I find the rating quite fiting. This ain't the worse Priest album, with a better production it would've sparked an 8 even though instrumental wise and vocal wise, they are no longer in their prime time.
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| Sword_Chant Posts: 717 |
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| Malignar Posts: 285 |
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| Troy Killjoy perfunctionist Staff Posts: 21306  |
Well they don't sound as bad as Christopher Lee. But damn do they sound old.
---- "Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools because they have to say something."
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| quirin Posts: 105  |
Thanks for this review. Your findings do not come as a surprise to me, and I fear them accurate. Last time I saw them live (Nostradamus era), they told the crowd that they'd quit... And by seeing Halford resting on a fake throne in between songs, I figured it was the right decision. Well after all it's their call, but apparently they should better have stuck to that first idea. So you didn't enjoy Nostradamus then? Fair enough, but it sounded to me as a possible 'fresh' start and seemed to open unexpected doors to the conceptual side. Anyway, it's not about Nostradamus here, so let's just say I'm glad you spent your time exploring this dispensable album.
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| Orangutoad Low-life douche Posts: 33  |
You obviously like the album slightly more than I do, and gave it a little higher score than I would have, but I agree with most of it. I get too emotional when hearing a band I love as much as Priest produce something as mediocre and tired as this, so I'm definitely not the right person to ask about it. I will get overly dramatic about it, as I have in other posts. However, I feel this is a fair and honest review from someone who can keep calm about it. Good work. I like your reviews.
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| ScreamingSteelUS Editor-in-Chief Admin Posts: 5923  |
Written by quirin on 15.07.2014 at 19:56 Overall I enjoyed Nostradamus, but it should have been half as long and utilized that sound more effectively. It wasn't a bad album per se, but I don't think the experiment paid off as well as it could have, and it isn't really the sort of thing I'd want to hear from Judas Priest.
---- "Earth is small and I hate it" - Lum Invader I'm the Agent of Steel.
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| satans nuts Posts: 6 |
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| Get_thrashed Posts: 17  |
I was really trying to make it sound better to myself but can't help it but notice that I'm really not enjoying it much, then I put some old Judas priest and covered the stains by remembering how awesome this band will always be to me.
---- http://www.last.fm/user/em_eldeen
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| Angelic Storm Melodious Posts: 6675  |
Painkiller is a very good album, but it definitely isn't Priest's best work. That's their stuff from the mid-70's.
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| ScreamingSteelUS Editor-in-Chief Admin Posts: 5923 |
Written by Orangutoad on 15.07.2014 at 21:44 Thank you!
---- "Earth is small and I hate it" - Lum Invader I'm the Agent of Steel.
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| Marcel Hubregtse Grumpy Old Fuck Elite Posts: 40071  |
Written by satans nuts on 15.07.2014 at 23:15 Painkiller is only good when compared to the albums just before that one was released but cmpared to f.e. Sad Wings and Sin After Sin it was a pretty weak effort.
---- Member of the true crusade against European Flower Metal Yesterday is dead and gone, tomorrow is out of sight Dawn Crosby (r.i.p.) 05.04.1963 - 15.12.1996 
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| Orangutoad Low-life douche Posts: 33 |
Written by deadone on 16.07.2014 at 03:03 I actually agree with this, especially concerning their 80's work, and although I still loved it...it was indeed "trendy 80's hard rock." However, I feel they were born again hard with Painkiller. That album is when they rose above the rest and brought back that late 70's Priest originality into a new era of harder, faster speed metal. It was Priest pissed off and on a rampage after being dragged into court over a bunch of BS, and it's still one of the few metal albums that are a perfect 10 in my book. Painkiller raised the bar incredibly high and everything they've done since then just pales in comparison. Angel of Retribution was decent, but still nowhere near the badassery of Painkiller.
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| Murder Posts: 255  |
Written by Angelic Storm on 15.07.2014 at 23:38 Stained Class >>>> all the other albums, of course IMHO and because that is my favorite Judas Priest album.
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| Dedcalm Account deleted |
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| Zap Posts: 3577  |
I am extremely biased when it comes to Priest, but I fear even I won't enjoy this one and I just keep postponing listening to it...
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| Ilham Giant robot Posts: 5161  |
Written by Zap on 18.07.2014 at 18:39 No need to postpone, it won't take long to understand what it's worth. Do it now, get it out of your way.
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| Orion79 Posts: 6 |
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| Zap Posts: 3577 |
Written by Ilham on 18.07.2014 at 18:59 You're right... Which is why I listened to it. And yes, the band sounds old. And I guess this album would have sounded better if it was recorded by a young Judas Priest. Overall though, even a youthful, more energetic band couldn't make it sound great; I feel like the best songs here are on par with some of the filler on their better albums. And this time the part of me that forces me to like everything Judas Priest puts out isn't even doing an effort. Maybe it's the lack of KK.
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| Floflo79 Posts: 8  |
This album is pretty good. I don't know why people says that it's bad. "Battle Cry" is a really great song, the new guitarist is very good and the album cover is badass as hell !
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| Troy Killjoy perfunctionist Staff Posts: 21306 |
Written by Floflo79 on 30.07.2014 at 14:24 If you don't know why people say it's bad then you must not read a lot of reviews or comments online. There are plenty of reasons why people dislike this - songwriting, production, vocals, etc.
---- "Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools because they have to say something."
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| Floflo79 Posts: 8 |
I know that some people says that the production, vocals, songwriting... are bad. I said that I didn't know why people says that it's bad because I didn't understand it, not because I didn't know it.
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| DeathRay68 Posts: 1 |
Agree. I have to say that Halls Of Valhalla, Sword Of Damocles, and Battle Cry have definitely grown on me... However, as someone else said, after listening to these I find myself going back to the older albums of my Priest collection such as Screaming For Vengeance and Defenders Of The Faith to hear this band pummel in their prime. The guitar solo on Ram It Down still blows me away, and leaves me wondering why that song didn't make it on Guitar Hero... 
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| nikarg Staff Posts: 7345  |
I've been listening to this lately, in anticipation of the new album. Most songs are very good, with 2 or 3 being excellent and another 2 or 3 fillers. Halford, although not in his prime anymore, still kicks the ass of most metal vocalists around. However, the production is so utterly and embarrassingly dreadful that it brings down the final result immensely. I can't find words to describe how disappointing it is for one of the greatest heavy metal bands of all time to have this disgraceful production in 2014. I mourn the money I spent to buy a physical copy of this, since the mp3 files sound the same: total shit.
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| Bad English Tage Westerlund Posts: 62001  |
Written by nikarg on 08.08.2017 at 17:15 c mon he still is in shape, better as many old timers and middle ages
---- I stand whit Ukraine and Israel. They have right to defend own citizens. Stormtroopers of Death - "Speak English or Die"  I better die, because I never will learn speek english, so I choose dieing
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| nikarg Staff Posts: 7345 |
Written by Bad English on 05.10.2017 at 01:03 This is exactly what I said ("still kicks the ass of most metal vocalists around").
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| VIG Account deleted |
VIG
Account deleted Written by nikarg on 05.10.2017 at 12:00 
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