FIREPOWER review - Fiyahpowa!

(Reviewed by Melody Werner)
Firepower is Judas Priest's 2018 heavy metal album. At this point, Judas Priest is a band that's been around for an impressive 50 YEARS. Obviously there have been their line-up changes and whatnot, but they've been a constant in the music industry for much of their existence. And yet, with Firepower--their eighteenth album--Judas Priest reached greater commercial success than ever before and the album received roundly positive reviews. I got into this, like many of the albums I decide to cover, through theneedledrop's recommendation. But what really got me interested at first was learning (also from Signor Melon) that JP's frontman, Rob Halford, was gay. Obviously that doesn't necessarily mean I would enjoy his music, but I did wanna give a fellow queer dude a bash--and I've had a blast with this album. It totally shreds.

As someone who grew up on the widely disliked nü metal, certain metalheads might anticipate that I wouldn't be able to appreciate the more heavy metal instrumentals that are on offer with Firepower. On the contrary, though, I find them a pleasant middle ground between heaviness and groove. A track like "Necromancer," while suitably creepy and badass, is one helluva good time with such easy to love musicianship on display. Better yet, the instrumentals play off masterfully with the vocals (but more on those in a sec). Judas Priest has found a great way of producing metal that is throwing back and yet easy for younger generations (like mine) to get into. And while I love my Ghost's and my Zeal and Ardor's just as much, Judas Priest has made me fall hard for their brand of metal. 

There is not enough good things I can say about the man, Rob Halford. He's spent decades blazing trails in both metal, and the wider cultural landscape. He has singlehandedly given us undeniable proof that the stereotypes of gay men being feminine and weak are entirely unfounded, with his powerful vocals that rock just as hard as your Ozzy Osborne's or your Axl Rose's--and he's not even a piece of shit like Axl Rose is. But to simply label Halford's vocals as being powerful is leaving a lot of things out. There's a reason why he's considered one of the greatest singers in all of metal. Hell, he's better than most singers, period. His range is obscene, it is I-M-M-E-N-S-E, and he delivers the revolutionary lyrics with such fiery passion and operatic flourish on each and every track. I want to cite a song where this is shown in a major capacity, but that's difficult to do when he kills it on every single one. You could pick any song on here and there'd be a vocal highlight on it from Halford--unless that track is the one instrumental cut on the album, "Guardians," which is really just a build-up to "Rising from Ruins" in the same way that "The Hellion" set up "Electric Eye" back on the classic Screaming for Vengeance (an album I have yet to listen to beyond the singles--I was saving the remainder for after I reviewed Firepower). You don't listen to Guardians on its own, just as you wouldn't listen to The Hellion all by its lonesome. That'd be foolish.

When every song on an album packs such visceral fun in the way this album does, I try to see if there are any real qualms I have. Is it too one-note? No, they change things up enough. Does it flow properly? Yeah, every song feels like it belongs in the tracklist where it is. So yeah, I adore it. This is an album I get a shocking amount of replay value from, every song is a raging fist-pumper with an epic scope. It never becomes tedious, with all the songs being multi-faceted and hitting hard. I'd say my ultimate favorites include Necromancer, "Flame Thrower," the title track, and "Children of the Sun." You knew it was coming by how much I've gushed about this album--Firepower gets a 3.5/10 from me. Wait, what? Oops, looks like I mixed up my review score for Dora and the Lost City of Gold with Firepower's... which obviously, in actuality, gets a 10/10.

Masterpiece

Summary:

Fucking great, go listen.