However, this year shows Firepower was no lightning-in-a-bottle, as Priest are back to show their metal has not rusted a bit with Invincible Shield. With Halford reuniting with Tipton and Richie Faulkner on guitars, Scott Travis on drums and Ian Hill on bass, we are all reunited for another deafening trip into the underworld. Opening with the rapid pulse-pounding intro ‘Panic Attack,’ Rob Halford proves his high-pitched screaming remains unmatched at 72 years old and that Tipton is still inventing deceivingly-simple but instantly-iconic riffs at 76. Mr Tipton even revealed his on-going usage of ‘riff-vaults’, where he may write a brand-new riff or take one of his unused one from as far as 1970 depending on how it suits the track. Throughout songs like ‘The Serpent and The King,’ and ‘Devil in Disguise,’ we’re treated to epic choruses and energetic guitars that feel like modern reworks of Priest’s work in the eighties and early nineties. Each track is similarly loud and triumphantly akin to a giant Viking charge, especially with the lyrical focus on winning battles with gods on your side.
As with many artists late into their careers, this album, above all, feels like an ageing band realising they still have it in them and deciding to carry on with some invigorative fun in the studio. Halford even claimed, for the album’s creativity, the lot of them simply arrived in the room and started off with free-riffing and on-the-spot creativity, with the band’s unbreakable chemistry ensuring fire is stirred with each session. But while every track may hit heavy, Invincible Shield does seem to be fixated mostly on enjoyment within the band’s comforts rather than pushing any boundaries. Thematically there is not much new outside the familiar good-against-evil tropes and stories about battling Satan, as opposed to some more creative character-focused or storytelling-driven songs like ‘Exciter’ or ‘Beyond the Realms of Death’.
A manic commentary on the modern age of social media (mainly Twitter) and the constant wide-spread anxiety and instability it brings
There are, however, some lyrical standouts with tracks like the epic closer ‘Giants in the Sky,’ which works both as a giant blessing to Priest’s fans and a commemoration to the passed metal legends Ronny James Dio and Lemmy Kilmister with lines like: ‘Homage to the legends 'til the bitter end, leaving such a legacy, my friends. Giants in the sky, you won't ever die.’ ‘Panic Attack’ also works as a manic commentary on the modern age of social media (mainly Twitter) and the constant wide-spread anxiety and instability it brings: ‘The clamour and the clatter of incensed keys can bring a nation to its knees on the wings of a lethal icon, bird of prey.’
While quite similar to the confident self-indulgent energy of Firepower, Invincible Shield works on its own as a triumphant expansion on Judas Priest’s already-diamond legacy. How such influential legends not only still have the skill but the shared drive within them to create another anthemic and steel-biting album on such epic scales is something truly worth savouring.