Review by Saxy S for Judas Priest - Invincible Shield (2024)

Judas Priest: what even left is there to say? The name alone strikes a sense of fear among the metal community. The albums titles are iconic: Sad Wings of Destiny, British Steel, Screaming For Vengeance, Painkiller. Some may be considered the greatest metal albums of all time. They are revered for their contributions to early heavy metal and continue even to this day, although to less of an influential status.

Last year I had the “privilege” of reviewing Metallica’s newest album, 72 Seasons, and I blasted it for being safe and uninspired, and spoke about the moment that Metallica “sold out” between the releases of St. Anger and Death Magnetic. Judas Priest should likely fall under the same scrutiny, considering the symphonic concept album, Nostradamus from 2008, felt conceptually similar to St. Anger. Since then, the band has released three studio albums (including this one) that are essentially return-to-form projects and were good. The issue is whether Judas Priest need to reinvent the wheel.

Well, when the formula is this precise and accurate, one can’t argue with the results. All things considered, Invincible Shield is an awesome piece of old school heavy metal that knows its history and is well indebted to the past, but also is not ashamed to make subtle changes to keep it from sounding derivative or uninspired. Granted, many of those subtle changes are surface level, as has been the case with many old-time heavy metal bands (i.e. Saxon), but the cleaner production does give a sound much closer to modern day progressive metal. I cannot say that I’m a huge fan of the production though. It doesn’t really fit the Judas Priest aesthetic and the lack of overabundant reverb that is present on previous albums, including Firepower, seems unnatural.

Invincible Shield understands the band performing it are from a time once past, and that does come through in the lyrical content. It isn’t much to dissect; lots of themes of religion and death, but the main theme of “Panic Attack” is bizarre. The phrase “disconnecting from the World Wide Web” during the bridge is quite the reminder that Rob Halford is in his seventies and likely views the world much differently than us thirty-somethings reviewing the music. Fortunately, it’s the only track like this and they get it out of the way right from the start, instead of awkwardly adding it to the middle of the record.

Like with a lot of legacy acts, to expect anything more than this will leave you dissatisfied. If you take Invincible Shield at face value, you’ll find a well crafted, well performed late-stage Judas Priest album. It’s a far cry from their best (hell I would say it isn’t even as good as Firepower), but I’m still amazed that they can release this type of quality after this much time.

Best Songs: Invincible Shield, Gates of Hell, As God is my Witness, Giants in the Sky