Ladies and Gentlemen the Priest is back! Well, not completely back, we have to wait until 2018 for that. But, the band has made some huge announcements in the past few days. The Priest have revealed their cover art for the next album of metal bliss ‘Firepower’. They’ve also released a short teaser of the first single ‘Firepower’. It’s only fifteen seconds but we’ll take it! And of course, the Priest have announced the first North American leg tour dates.
Not only that but the Priest is on the nominee list for inductees into the 2018 rock and roll hall of fame. Please cast your vote for them. It’s important for quality metal that Judas Priest gets into the rock hall of fame. It’ll be a huge step forward for actual rock bands getting into the hall of fame.
Let’s talk cover art. This is one of the strongest album covers I’ve seen from this band. And that’s saying a lot. ‘Redeemer of Souls’ was cool, but a little too indulgent on the cover. As great as the album is. I always thought Priest were best when they don’t go huge on the album art. Such as ‘British Steel’ and ‘Screaming for Vengeance’. And they’ve gone back to that vibe with ‘Firepower’. Now, as far as the album title goes, it feels a little uninspired. Just sort of the obvious metal album title. But, Priest were never really album title genius’. Plus they’re the og metal band for this type of vibe in all of heavy music. So at the end of the day it’s all good.
The little fifteen second clip is amazing too. It’s a perfect little teaser. It’s only fifteen seconds of the entire album so you can’t really make any claims as to how the whole thing will sound. But so far, it sounds super bad ass. Absolutely a track that is in the vein of ‘Painkiller’. And it’s good that they revisit that sound. Because that album did usher in a new era for the group sonic wise and musically. And it keeps them sounding fresh. When they did ‘Painkiller’ it was to show that even though the band were in their 40’s and veterans that they could still be as heavy as a band that started that week. And that was in 1990. 28 Years later the band is still doing it thrash and heavy as hell. In their late 60’s! It’s almost comical. Because they really do sound just as good as they did in the 80’s and early 90’s. Some bands seem to be able to simply run that career marathon. And Priest are at the top of the best.
And as for the opening tour dates. Simply go to judaspriest.com/tour and they’ll pop right up. Some great deals are available.
