Okay, the Priest lot, and especially Halford have come under a lot of fire for this latest addition to their opus, being accused of experimentalism, of losing their roots in "proper metal", of straying from the "true path". It's true that much of the album is more melodic, and slower, than older works in their opus such as the speed of Painkiller and the heaviness of British Steel; however, to look at the album simply in the light of those works is a mistake.
The album opens quietly and slowly, with a very simple piano melody, slowly bringing in more classical elements, the strings joining the piano with a second simple tune in time with the piano, a variation on the original theme, at least to start with, and slowly more elements - including sythesiser - are added until the drums quietly come in, bringing with them the real Priest credentials. If you listened to the first 150 seconds of the album, it wouldn't sound metal at all, let alone like something from the gods of NWBHM. However, a sudden change of pace brings in the familiar Halford vocals with the heavy drums and guitar backing him up, strengthening the rhythm and metallic nature of the piece.
The lessons of British Steel come across clearly in this album - good, strong anthemic pieces in the model of United are found in abundance with strong drum and guitar backgrounds, the former providing a lot of the structure of the album as the guitars alter their tune and nature in pretty much every way possible whilst still retaining an essential NWBHM flavour, whereas the drums stay pretty uniform throughout in their playstyle. The lyrics can't be overlooked, since they mix the catchy and the complex in roughly equal measure, but always with the signature clarity that is Halford's speciality, each word clearly enunciated and cleanly spoken; no growls or screams on this album, despite the profusion of such on more and more of modern metal. The tracks do follow the story of Nostradamus, generally, with a very singularly Priest style, explicitly using Biblical references as well as those to the astronomer himself; a well-constructed overarching theme allows for a degree of experimentalism whilst remaining true to the basic roots of the Priest.
All in all, if you like your metal clean and interesting, this is a record to buy; fans of hard rock will also find something to their taste somewhere in here, and metalheads should be prepared to find another reason to include the Priest amongst the pantheon. A straight up 5 out of 5.
Album Review: Judas Priest's Nostradamus
