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Rating: A watershed year, 1997. Contrary to what the usual nostalgics stuck in 1989 maintain, the Nineties were a great decade for heavy metal, with the entire extreme scene in the forefront and the more heavy-power-related sound ready to return to the spotlight after the boom of Hammerfall's debut.
Paradoxically, the ones who were absent from the limelight for quite some time are the fathers of the genre, the Judas Priest, and since 1990's legendary Painkiller, a lot of water has passed under the bridge. Rob Halford is out of the game for a while, lost in his industrial projects, and Glenn Tipton has had all the time to consider a solo stint, but now it's time to return to the stage in a stable manner. A brief dissertation: in Birmingham, in the late Sixties, if you didn't want to work in a factory like your father and your grandfather before him, the only option was really to pick up a guitar and hope you'd make it. Ask the friends from Black Sabbath for confirmation. Back to us: for Rob, Priest is now a closed chapter, with apologies to those who were still hoping. Looking for a new singer? Obviously, but replacing such an iconic figure will not be easy. It's the young Tim Owens, a young American with a background in Winter's Bane, with one album under his belt and a career as a... Judas Priest tribute band! Thinking back, those were a bit confusing years. How many historical bands returned to the scene with upended line-ups and new singers replacing authentic institutions? Maiden, Sabbath, Helloween, Sepultura, just to name a few. The guy, however, is right from the start the horse to bet on: the minimum required stage presence isn't lacking, but above all, there's a golden voice that would be crazy to let slip away.
Jugulator hits the stores at the end of the year and baffles everyone a bit: okay, it would have been insane to expect a carbon copy of Screaming for Vengeance, but no one would have imagined such a comeback. Jugulator is the bastard child of Painkiller, a big, muscular guy with a Slayer t-shirt and a Pantera tattoo, and be careful how you talk to him because he's also very touchy. Tipton and Downing, who practically write everything, must have really brushed up on all the thrash and groove of those years, because that's the direction, with a Scott Travis in great shape who kicks into gear with a full-throttle double kick. Cover with the "usual" metallic monster as per tradition, just to remind you that these guys don't play reggae, and they start with a bang: Owens doles out plenty of high notes on a nice wall of guitars and helicopter double kick. Why the Priest took forever to find someone like Travis remains a mystery to anyone, to be clear. In short, the self-titled track immediately makes it clear where the rest of the album is headed. Blood Stained is another great track, with the K.K.-Glenn duo in top form and Owens offering a lesson on what vocal range is, really going above and beyond to prove he's up to the role. Dead Meat has its reasons, but feels too verbose, a feature that characterizes the entire album, much like many works of those years, with various artists going wild with the idea of being able to write while taking advantage of a CD's eighty minutes instead of a vinyl's forty. It's a pity we often ended up with endless intros, pointless passages, and tracks that once would have stayed in a drawer. Good also are Decapitate and Burn in Hell, which even get their own video, showcasing the new line-up's talents, but even here the abbreviated version of the clip works better than the excessively long one on the album. The new addition also shines in Brain Dead, with a nice emotional performance, as it's really worth mentioning Travis's excellent work. Want to give a few more compliments to Owens? What to say, great voice, the extra gear of this album, listen to Abductors to believe. We're almost at the finish line: even Bullet Train was chosen as a single and works, but the true masterpiece of the album is Cathedral Spires, nine minutes of marathon between gothic and decadent atmospheres where, finally, it's not just about pushing the accelerator, but it beautifully ends with an evocative gem, well structured and full of those melodies that made the Priest great in the Eighties. The real weak point of Jugulator? In the long run, it becomes monotonous: the wall of guitars is fine, but one must also know how to change the pace. Does the "ghost" of the Metal God hover occasionally? Of course, but it would have been impossible otherwise, with Downing and Tipton handling almost everything: giving more space to the newcomer wouldn't have been bad.
Usually, Jugulator is critiqued for its excessive aggression: true, more melodic openings would have benefited the tracks, given Owens' potential as well, but it's wrong to consider it an isolated work in the band's discography, almost as if the previous albums were made with a stencil. Judas never wrote two identical albums, at least during their most significant artistic phase, showing an almost progressive attitude, with a constantly evolving proposal: Sin After Sin was not British Steel and Turbo was not Defenders of the Faith. The revival, at most, would come only in more recent times, but after so many years asking for more would perhaps be absurd.
After the live album '98 Metal Meltdown, there will be the second and final chapter of the Owens era, Demolition, which will be somewhat snubbed by everyone, opening the doors, to the delight of the nostalgics, to the usual reunion with Rob, an event that marks the artistic death of practically any band. There remains the regret for a very talented singer that perhaps even the Priest themselves were not able to fully exploit: over the years, Owens would become a familiar face in the American metal scene, playing with everyone, but perhaps never finding his true dimension. Jugulator, despite the weak points discussed, remains nonetheless a good album, with a fresh and modern sound, far from any nostalgia.
Judas Priest:
- Tim "Ripper" Owens, vocals
- K.K. Downing, guitars
- Glenn Tipton, guitars
- Ian Hill, bass
- Scott Travis, drums
- Jugulator
- Blood Stained
- Dead Meat
- Death Row
- Decapitate
- Burn in Hell
- Brain Dead
- Abductors
- Bullet Train
- Cathedral Spires
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
01 Jugulator (05:51)
Now let's see what you're made of
He is coming, you can't run
Violators that get caught
Will wish that they'd never been born
Exterminator
You are dead
Mutilate
Sharpened razor
Takes your head
Jugulator
Predit hater
You are trapped
Decimate
Desecrator
Your neck snapped
Jugulator
Jugulator he is near
Attracted by the stench of fear
Part demonic part machine
Hungry and it's time to feed
Iron claws and fangs of steel
Dripping from his tasty meal
Now it's time to jugulate
Feel your skull disintegrate
Jugulator killing time now
Reaches in and rips your spine out
Violator
Big mistake
Mutilate
Vindicator
Rib cage break
Flesh and bones
Are massacred
Jugulator
Desecrator
Jugulator
05 Decapitate (04:39)
Your head
You will lose it
Severed
When executed
You always thought
You'd never get caught
Decapitate
Sealing your fate
Rebels
Futile efforts
Are quelled
With effective measures
The sentence is read
Word that you dread
Decapitate
Walk through hell's gate
You've lost your head sir
Well you will tomorrow - sleep well
This court's
Best deterrent
To set
New precendents
The verdict of course
Couldn't be worse
Decapitate
Example be made
Decapitate
Will seal your fate
07 Brain Dead (05:24)
Turn me off
Pull the plug
Leave me with some dignity
I am not
What I was
And I don't need the sympathy
Alive inside me
No one can hear me
Brain dead
I'm not
Brain dead
Sentenced
Forgot
Paralysed
In my shell
Enduring every
Endless day
Immobilized
On my back
Aware of everything
They say
Extricate me
Eliminate me
Brain dead
I'm not
Brain dead
Drip fed
Forgot
I can't blink my eye or cry
Or even speak
They crowd around my bed
Condescending words are said
Thinking I don't hear or know
What is going on - Hello!
Can't you suckers hear my cries
From inside I'm still alive
It's my decision to abort
Turn off the goddamn life support
Let me pass
From this world
So I fade away in peace
Comprehending
Unrelenting
Brain dead
I'm not
Brain dead
Sentenced
Forgot
Brain dead
I'm not
Brain dead
Drip fed
Forgot
08 Abductors (05:49)
They come at night and they infiltrate you
They paralyse and they mentally rape you
Expressionless they disintegrate you
The probe your soul and desecrate you
Abductors - will bleed your mind
Abductors - cutting inside
They come for you in the night
They strap you in-struments laid before you
And powerless begin to explore you
You scream in pain but they just ignore you
The bring machines and they drill and bore you
Abductors - cutting inside
Abductors - drinking your mind
No-one believes that you
Were chosen from few
Defiled and abused
By alien rituals
You wake in fright there in your room
You better hope your memory fails you
A lower form of life to them
Just one more blood experiment
Abductors - will bleed your mind
Abductors - cutting inside
They come for you in the night
You wake in fright there in your room
You better hope your memory fails you
A lower form of life to them
Just one more blood experiment
They send you back and disorientate you
A lesser race they discriminate you
Whatever said will incriminate you
No-one believes
The sceptics laugh an annihilate you
They dig you out and they excavate you
Authority and even God forsakes you
No-one believes
Hey maybe I am just a liar
09 Bullet Train (05:11)
Sunrise showing every flaw
Paying for the night before
Dark eyes, scanning every vein
Exploding - cannot stand the strain
With each new mile They death defy me
Standing on trial Scrutinize me
And questionize my
Strong denial
Bullet bullet bullet train
Piercing through my brain
Windows illuminating stains
Breakdown closing in again
Freefall as I close my eyes
Voices talking many lies
Changing my course Blurred and scorched
Breathing exhaust As we distort
By gravity
Of such G-force
Bullet bullet bullet train
Piercing through my brain
Breakdown close my eyes
Voices talking many lies
Stained glass bursting in
Shattering my world again
Freefall but never can
Ever reach the ground again
Dark eyes scanning in
Feel my mind explode within
Wanting much more I implore you
Near to death's door To ignore
The screams of all
Who fall before
Bullet bullet bullet train
Piercing through my brain
Bullet bullet bullet train
Piercing through my brain
Bullet
10 Cathedral Spires (09:17)
They have blown away the daylight hours we had
Left a legacy, a deadly aftermath
We cannot exist in godforsaken lands
As we spiral down into oblivion
Breathing the fumes of fires that they ignite
Losing ground and we are all just losing sight
We shall never see another setting sun
Time to rise up and ascend, the end has come
No more willpower
Choked by hell fire
Darkness above
Blackening out the sun
Gripped by steel claws
Corrosion eating us
So before we're all devoured
Time to rise up and retire
In cathedral spires
Watching as the world expires
From up amongst the clouds
In cathedral spires
No names
No graves
No prayers
Can save us
Ashes to dust
Doomsday's upon us now
It cannot be stopped
Genocide all is lost
Oh! We're so tired
Time to rise up and conspire
In cathedral spires
Watching as our world expires
From up above the clouds
In cathedral spires
Jaws of corruption
Swallow us as one
Consuming every nation
Evoke resistance getting none
Complete disintegration
No good to defend
There can be but one outcome
We are no more - ascend
Vaporized fury
Offers no sanctuary
Oh! We're so tired
Time to rise up and retire
In cathedral spires
Watching as the world expires
From up amongst the clouds
In cathedral
In cathedral spires
Oh! We're so tired
Watching the world expire
Time that we retire
Up in cathedral spires
Oh! We're so tired
Watching the world expire
Time that we retire
Up in cathedral spires
Oh! We're so tired
Watching the world expire
Time that we retire
Up in cathedral spires
Oh! We're so tired
Watching the world expire
Time that we retire
Up in cathedral spires
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Other reviews
By ocram
Judas Priest... have contributed from the beginning to create and define the world of Metal as we know it now.
This 'Jugulator' is, very simply, an uninspired and tragically inconclusive album, that offers no new insights.
By Starblazer
Steel. Heavy metal in its purest form forged in the furnace of hell by Master Glenn Tipton.
It is truly a mission impossible to resist the irresistible perverse crescendo of 'Burn In Hell'.
