On first impressions, it’s hard to tell that Judas Priest were ever in the vanguard of British heavy metal. Their shrill, two-guitar-pronged sound has been so widely imitated, it feels commonplace. For his part in practically inventing hair metal, by introducing the S&M look to the scene in the late 1970s, 64-year-old frontman Rob Halford is now rendered completely bald by the gods of rock.
With their latest album Redeemer of Souls having become their first US Top 10 record, the Priest have been vindicated in their desire to keep on rocking even after a massive farewell tour that has proved anything but, and the subsequent departure of founding guitarist KK Downing. Before anyone blurts Spinal Tap, consider that these Brummies had been through seven drummers before that film was released in 1984 (towering on a preposterously high riser, Scott Travis is their eighth sticks man to date).
The new material is largely a fans-only affair – anyone not entertained by widdly guitar solos would have been advised to bring a book for the likes of Halls of Valhalla. With a voice that vaults between a six-feet-under growl and a banshee wail, Halford tends his flock flamboyantly with the eccentric conceit of changing into a new coat for every song – a tasselled leather trench for The Rage, a shiny silver PVC number for Turbo Lover.
It’s only in the final third that the Priest, who reaped huge success in the 80s by retrofitting a sleek pop sensibility on to their music’s heavy chassis, reveal themselves. Hell Bent for Leather begins with the time-honoured ritual of Halford riding a motorbike on stage through a fog of dry ice. Electric Eye, You’ve Got Another Thing Comin’ and Painkiller earn their polite devil-horn salutes, before Living After Midnight rocks its last at a respectable 10.30pm.
- At O2 Apollo, Manchester, 28 November. Box office: 08444 777 677. Then touring.
