Judas Priest: Invincible Shield (2024, Sony Music)

Judas Priest has nothing to prove with five decades of experience behind them. The more than fifty million records sold throughout the globe endorse them as one of the biggest and most successful bands of all time. Their authenticity and commitment to the scene since their formation in 1969 have given us some of the most well-known and acclaimed heavy metal songs that decades later continue to be played in the best venues and stations around the world.

2024 also marks the 50th anniversary of their debut album Rocka Rolla (Gull), the 40th anniversary of one of the seminal albums of their career as Defenders Of The Faith (CBS) and the 10th anniversary of Redeemer Of Souls (Sony Music), all They are important for more than obvious reasons: the first for being one of the most solid debuts of a band that would lay the foundations for a genre yet to be exploited, the second for defining, together with its predecessor Screaming For Vengeance (1982, CBS), the sound of heavy metal as such and the third for being the band’s first album without its original guitarist with whom they welcomed Richie Faulkner.

As if this were not enough, Judas Priest has set out to break down all possible established barriers with a solid album of authentic heavy metal like Invincible Shield. The British have managed to put together eleven songs with their best riffs to offer a sonic gale of authentic angry and raw metal that is practically a direct continuation of their previous album Firepower (2018, Columbia Records). Of the eleven songs that give life to Invincible Shield, we had already been able to hear four of them as previews, a standard that has been established over the years and that steals some prominence from the album itself, revealing part of its magic before it hits the stores, but Judas Priest has kept several tricks up its sleeve.

Invincible Shield is an album that in general terms does not invent anything new but at the same time stands as one of the most solid of his career in the last two decades. What Invincible Shield achieves in its fifty-minute duration is to combine the best of its classic albums with the production of its previous album, again by Andy Sneap. At certain moments we can find certain reminiscences of albums like Painkiller (1990, Columbia Records) with the powerful The Serpent And The King where Rob Halford shines on vocals as well as in As God Is My Witness where Glenn Tipton and Richie Faulkner take us back to timeless classics like Leather Rebel with an aggressive duo of guitars that shake the listener as if we were back in 1990.

Unlike Firepower, this Invincible Shield starts with less power but with the raw and forceful Panic Attack that takes its time to welcome us with the most delicious guitar plucking. When Scott Travis and Ian Hill come into action it is time for Rob Halford to show what he is capable of and that is something that is appreciated from the first to the last song. Invincible Shield has a certain aroma of Freewheel Burning and even Ram It Down, a song that could practically have opened the album but that the band has decided to reserve to play after the glorious Panic Attack.

The rhythm of the album is fully compensated by the inclusion of mid-tempo songs like Crown Of Horns or Escape From Reality, the latter being the one that reminded me at some point of songs from Jugulator and even Demolition, with a very pleasant aftertaste to Revolution or Wheels Of Fire from Angel Of Retribution (2005, Sony Music UK). The album also maintains the level at all times thanks to the punch and punch of songs like Trial By Fire or Sons Of Thunder on its second side, even reserving a cartridge of the caliber of Giants In The Sky to close the album before the three bonus songs such as Fight Of Your Life, Vicious Circle and The Lodger make an appearance, this only on the deluxe version of the album.

In short, Invincible Shield is an album that brings us back to the best Judas Priest, perhaps the most inspired in recent years. The metal gods have given their best in their nineteenth studio album that quickly ranks among one of the best releases of a year that promises to be most hopeful for lovers of the most classic heavy metal.