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Rating: In a scenario of the early new millennium, after a nice "Jugulator" (1997), after Tim "Ripper" Owens managed to prove he could fight against the high notes of His Majesty Rob Halford, the ingenious and unpredictable inventors of Metal come out in the open with this "Demolition." The album in question is considered by far the worst of Judas Priest. Rightly or wrongly? Let's find out.
The good "Jugulator," containing the mighty "Cathedral Spires" and the anthem "Burn In Hell," was subjected to harsh criticism from fans of Classic Heavy Metal, while a part of the band's followers tried to appreciate it, succeeding with great difficulty and commenting positively through gritted teeth, while others mercilessly trashed it. Four years after that genetic mutation, which marked the definitive turning point from the now "dusty" (so to speak) "Painkiller," what will KK and Glenn offer us? In my opinion, a decent dose of futuristic Metal, belonging to a world dominated by industrialization and killer machines of a distant technological era. It might be just a personal impression, but both the lyrics, the tight rhythms of guitar and drums (excellent Scott Travis), and the nebulous, gray atmospheres, all call this to mind very closely.
I consider the path taken to be the natural evolution of a historic band, captured by the 90s. This "Demolition" is inferior to its predecessor, but it's not at all an album to discard. Of course, for someone not passionate about the new style, it turns out to be nearly indigestible. The structure is more or less similar for all the tracks. Some acoustic interludes, a lot of heaviness and little speed, non-static compositions, but too many tracks, and some of them decidedly too long. It opens with "Machine Man," which shows all the new sound of the Priest, from the Fear Factory rhythms to a pseudo Nu-Metal text that is truly embarrassing. The exuberance of electronics is felt in "One On One," while "Hell Is Home" is the acid test for Owens, who for attitude and height reached by his voice, could be considered the Robert Halford of the new millennium. Passed. If "Jekyll And Hyde" is the exteriority of the new Judas, all heaviness and zero emotion, "Close To You" is the best track on the album, a slow one that knows how to transport thanks to icy melodies, and a voice suspended between an intimate Layne Staley and the attitude of an Owens who has plenty of class to sell. Terrible "Devil Digger" and that’s enough, boring until the end, powerful, but one that you can do without. "Bloodsuckers" is the hard piece that stands out, for the experience of seasoned musicians who still know how to scratch, for the riff stolen from "Painkiller" and for the massive dose of Nu-Metal.
The voice becomes very warm and enveloping in "In Between," a slow-paced track with sharp tone changes, while "Feed On Me" is just a polished Hard Rock ready for the new millennium. It feels very artificial. "Subterfuge" is overwhelming boredom, "Lost And Found" the ballad with little appeal that couldn’t be done without, much practicality and experience at the service of uselessness. In "Cyberface" arrive the Metallica of the cocky period, with some clever findings and a modern and captivating sound nonetheless. A pumped-up bass and an anthemic title (forgive the ridiculous term) are not enough to transform "Metal Messiah" into the anthem for future metal generations. It closes with "What's My Name," yet another opportunity to fire off blasts of violence. At the end, this album with mediocre sounds brings to mind factories, presses, welders, pneumatic hammers. Metal is also this.
It may be the worst album of the Judas for a Judas fan, but trying to give an objective final judgment, it manages to pass thanks to a lot of technique, a great singer, and some good ideas, but interpreted with confusion, too much craft and really little feeling.
Rating: 6
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
04 Jekyll and Hyde (03:19)
Your innocence all but fades
When we peel the veneer away
It's all an act which you stage
With your two faced barricades
Rage consumes
You every night
Caged inside you
Trying to get out
Schizophrenic basic needs
Fools me into complacency
But now I see through your facade
Behind the mask a monster snarls
Hatred burning
In your chest
Dazed but learning
In your quest
Oh it's killing me your unpredictability
Oh all the time
You hide behind
Your Jekyll and Hyde
Now I realise
There's a dark side
Disguised
Always changing
Then love hating
Baiting me
Your innocence all but fades
When we peel the veneer away
It's all an act which you stage
With your two faced barricades
Rage consumes you every night
Caged inside you trying to get out
07 Bloodsuckers (06:18)
Don't speak to me of morality
Justice wrong or right
You dig the dirt ignore the hurt
And spit out all your lies
Conscience free as we bleed
Hypocrisy born from greed
Don't preach to me of integrity
Or your legal highs
The judge's thrilled
He's dressed to kill
On TV every night
Subliminal - so absurd
It's criminal - yet can't be heard
Bloodsuckers - how can they sleep at nights
Bloodsuckers - nothing but parasites
You will be on the stand today
They cannot harm you - it's okay
But they will destroy your family
And drag you through Hell and tragedy
A circus heading into town
Complete with cameras and the clowns
The first amendment shot to bits
The world is watching just for kicks
As the day drew close to hand
For all to view the faceless man
He put out the lights - it's sad
Now who's to blame for that ?!
Intimidate twist what you say
With their fine points of law
They lose the case but proficate
And then appeal some more
Subliminal - it's so absurd
It's criminal - but can't be heard
I promise to tell the truth
The whole truth
And nothing but the truth
So help me God!
You will be on the stand today
They cannot harm you - it's okay
They will destroy your family
And drag you through Hell and tragedy
Bloodsuckers parasites
09 Feed on Me (05:28)
They are dying on the dance floor,
They are lyin' in debris.
They are fadin from exhaustion
From their mortal injuries.
They are hungry and need feeding,
They resign themselves to fate.
They are desparate men,
Death's written on their face.
When your will to live is almost gone
And you're left alone but you need someone
Feed on me,
Feed on me
They're outgunned and outnumbered
But they'll never turn to run
And 'In the name of freedom'
Is written with their blood
Some would call them mercenary
But they always knew the pain
Inevitably far outweighs the gain
When the hunger strikes you down again
And you feel your inner strength has drained
Feed on me
Feed on me
Feed on me
Feed on me - I got what you need
Feed on me
Feed on me - Don't accept defeat
10 Subterfuge (05:12)
Holy Father drink the firewater
Preaching peace as you go to war
Politicians making brave decisions
Always got self interest at heart
We are to you just a drop in the ocean
Maybe that's true but it's only a notion
You integrate with friendly intrusion
We won't get fooled we have come to conclusion
chorus
Subterfuge deludes the views of you and me
We're confused but still we choose to disagree
Subterfuge consumes us but defiantly
We refuse to bow down to conformity
Evil mothers hiding under covers
Always near but just out of sight
Hey big brother - watch as we recover
'Cause we'll never give up the fight
And we say no!
Give us a name and you give us the power
Watch as we gather our strength by the hour
You think we're blind and weak in decision
But we see it all from peripheral vision
chorus
Somebody wins, somebody lose
Some call it subterfuge
Somebody wins, somebody lose
They fall to subterfuge
chorus
Somebody wins, somebody lose
Some call it subterfuge
Somebody wins, somebody lose
They fall to subterfuge
11 Lost and Found (04:57)
[G. Tipton, K.K. Downing]
I always used to be afraid
That I was going to lose my way
I never used to walk in line but stray
I never thought I'd see it through
That I could deal with losing you
But suddenly I see the light of day
Leading me in
From out of the night
Staying on course - I'm still alive
I had to confess I never thought I would ever survive
I was lost and found
I had run aground
I was lost but now I'm found
Focused on my altered state
I would just disorientate
Suffering alone amongst the crowd
Drifting on a sea of doubt
And no one ever heard me shout
That I was lost and couldn't find my way
No one at hand
Having no plan
Stumbled through a barren land
After so long
Of going wrong
I found the road
I was lost and found
I had run aground
I was lost but now I'm found
I was lost and found
I had hit the ground
I was lost but now I found
That I don't need no one
To survive
You've got to believe alone
You'll rise
Starting to run
Shedding the load
Now I can see I'm close to home
After so long
Of going wrong
I found the road
I was lost and found
I had run aground
I was lost but now I'm found
12 Cyberface (06:45)
He lies in wait
For one mistake
Morphing on your screen
Those who dare
Or the unaware
Download him for a scream
Don't access the site
Or beware his megabyte
No virus scan
Detects the man
Or the deadly tasks he plans
Drooling lips
His circuits lit
He crouches for attack
Spider like on the web
Alive and well
But you are dead
Iniquitous in every way
Now he's come out to play
Cyberface
Iron will
Programmed to corrupt and kill
Cyberface
No escape
He is interfaced to Hell
Once he's summoned and installed - Cyberface
He'll infest your motherboard - Cyberface
Now he's got a grip
He will strip away your flesh
Alive yet dead
A fiend obsessed
He'll crash your system down
Once in place
He'll simulate
Your life - it's worthless now
God forsaken
Grotesque mind
An entity
That's come alive
Boot your screen
And suddenly
Approaching fast and mean
Once he's summoned and installed - Cyberface
He'll infest your motherboard - Cyberface
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Other reviews
By Starblazer
"A record with a highly restless and more introspective soul than its predecessor, seventy minutes of genuine sonic orgasm that can unsettle or stir."
"Ripper Owens' performance is truly breathtaking: to the incredible vocal range and boundless charisma... here is added versatility."
