Judas Priest
Nostradamus (Titletrack)

What I'm about to review is not the new album by Judas Priest, set to be released on June 16th, but just the title track which since yesterday has been freely downloadable from their official website.

It's been known for a good year that the new album of the Priest of Judas will be a concept about the life of Nostradamus, the enigmatic seer who lived in the 16th century, and who, according to some, predicted some fundamental events in modern history such as the rise and fall of Napoleon, the world wars, or the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. Others, including myself, consider him just one of the many charlatans wandering in that age of ignorance, capitalizing on rampant superstition, like characters such as Cagliostro, whose "prophecies" are so nebulous, lacking, and vague that they can be interpreted in any way to "predict" anything... always in hindsight!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

But let's get back to talking about music, judging an album by the title track can prove to be a double-edged sword, sometimes the title track serves as a summary of the album, revealing the intrinsic quality of the entire work, for instance, think about "Master of Puppets," "Rust in Peace," or "Powerslave," other times, however, listening to the title track can be "misleading" as the quality of the track doesn't match the overall quality of the album itself, "Fear of the Dark" serves as an example.

The track starts rather softly, with very slow riffs and Halford's very declamatory and epic voice, only to explode after a few seconds into one of those highs that only the Metal God can deliver, with riffs becoming increasingly insistent and a Scott Travis literally in a state of grace, who at times might remind of the best Dave Lombardo. The entire track maintains very fast tempos, but don't even think for a moment of the word power, here we are in the presence of the most classic and genuine HEAVY METAL, after all, no one could ever interpret this genre like those who invented it, becoming its absolute masters. The solos by the golden duo Tipton/Drowning are remarkable, the track concludes in a crescendo with neck-breaking headbanging riffs that seem to come directly from milestones like "Screaming For Vengeance" or "Defenders Of The Faith."

I can safely say that if the whole album maintains these levels, and I honestly don't think it could be otherwise, we will be facing the best Judas album since the days of Painkiller, but more importantly, we will have the demonstration that even at 60 you can compose albums with enviable creative flair.

Tracklist of Nostradamus:

01 Dawn Of Creation* \ 02 Prophecy \ 03 Awakening* \ 04 Revelations \ 05 The Four Horsemen \ 06 War \ 07 Sands Of Time* \ 08 Pestilence And Plague \ 09 Death \ 10 Peace* \ 11 Conquest \ 12 Lost Love \ 13 Persecution \ 14 Solitude* \ 15 Exiled \ 16 Alone \ 17 Shadows In The Flame* \ 18 Visions \ 19 Hope* \ 20 New Beginnings \ 21 Calm Before The Storm* \ 22 Nostradamus \ 23 Future Of Mankind

* = Intro and instrumental parts.