October 1, 2010

Reviewer: Chris

Imagine a flying roundhouse kick to the teeth from the late, great Bruce Lee just as you are waking up from only one hour of sleep in, say, a week. That is exactly how the latest Halford effort titled Made of Metal hits you once the opening track Undisputed wrecks your speakers. If there is any doubt that some things get better with age, Mr. Halford dispels it and then some.

Fresh from the Judas Priest 30^th anniversary of British Steel tour, Made of Metal plays on the heavy metal senses like a sinister opera’s phantom pianist with tracks that often sound as brutal as 1993’s War of Words from Mr. Halford’s post-Priest band, Fight. “Made of Metal” absolutely pounds the skull with its chugging power chords under the voice that made heavy metal as majestic and important a medium as it is. Where one (like myself) might see the obvious play on the title as a line from the classic “Electric Eye” track from 1982’s Screaming for Vengeance, the track itself is a NASCAR fan’s dream anthem, as is the following track “Speed of Sound”, both very heavy songs that show Rob Halford still shreds the average vocalist to indiscernible, embarrassing shards while pouring sugar in their collective gas tanks.

As usual Mr. Halford assembles a top-notch band worthy of his moniker with intelligent songs expertly crafted and amazingly performed. “Like There’s No Tomorrow” begins with an opening guitar that could have easily been lifted from Defenders of the Faith, yet morphs into something so very Halford-like once the verse riffs kick in. The man simply has no off-button and shows no signs of slowing down. Roy Z’s expert production skills once again make Mr. Halford’s already-impressive talents even more resonating; it’s a definitive marriage made in holy Hell!

One of my favorite tracks on Made of Metal is “Till the Day I Die” which, at times, can sound like a southern power ballad, but absolutely kills that subtle first impression with its crushing amplification by the second verse. Every track on this album is a small artifact of Mr. Halford’s past and present, generously offered to us fans on a silver disc to consume like ravenous wolves a wounded deer. The tracks can be cautiously personal (“Heartless”) or simply all-encompassing as in “Mower” or “Hell Razor”, the latter being as close to Judas Priest’s heyday as it gets without total song-lifting. “Hell Razor” reminds me so much of “Dissident Aggressor” in the overall vocal style and perfectly-positioned high vocals that are more expert timing than showboating. There seriously isn’t one weak track on this album, and that’s not the fan-boy in me speaking; I’m more difficult to please when it comes to my idols and the pedestal on which I place them, so if Mr. Halford’s efforts were lacking I’d be the first to tear him down a notch or ten. Simply put, Made of Metal permeates the mind’s eye like a memorable experience that you might keep recalling for posterity’s sake. You can accept this album as a happy part of the lineage that only strengthens his position in the heavy metal world for all of us out here that had a similar chance and missed it or simply love our music implicitly. It is one of the finer releases in this man’s career, and at nearly 60-years of age that speaks volumes, people.        

My own Judas Priest/Rob Halford worship dates back exactly thirty years. I’m quite used to the soaring vocals of “Freewheel Burning” or “Saints in Hell”, yet while Mr. Halford is certainly not 25-years-old anymore his voice is still the catalyst from which all metal music is summoned and perfected. That might be an overzealous opinion to some, but in actuality it is an undeniable fact. This gentleman has served as overlord, god, mentor, idol and savior to many a metal fan, myself included, and if I gush over this album anymore they’ll revoke my metal card for life and relentlessly assail me with large rocks, so simply buy it as quickly as possible because it’s that damn good!        

Release Date: September 28, 2010
Label: Metal God Entertainment

TRACK LISTING

1.  Undisputed
2.  Fire and Ice
3.  Made of Metal
4.  Speed of Sound
5.  Like There's No Tomorrow
6.  Till the Day I Die
7.  We Own the Night
8.  Heartless
9.  Hell Razor
10.  Thunder and Lightning
11.  Twenty-Five Years
12.  Matador
13.  I Know We Stand a Chance
14.  The Mower

Total playing time:  1:02:42

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Halford - Made of Metal