Time to finish off all of the
Halford era of
Judas Priest.
Nostradamus - Judas Priest
Format: CD/Digital
The final
Judas Priest album to feature
KK Downing is a sprawling 2 disc album bloated with introductory tracks, opening up the album comes a track called
Dawn Of Creation, for these introductory tracks I will just be lumping them into the track that follows them because while they appear to be nice little tracks they serve little purpose aside from being a lengthy introduction to already long tracks.
Prophecy is the first true track clocking in at 5 and a half minutes it comes in from the ending of the previous track which builds up quite a bit and segues perfectly into it, why was it not just one track I have no idea.
Halford comes in strong but his voice has aged, the band sounds tight and the concept record is underway. Low and crunchy throughout with
Halford playing it pretty safe for the most part vocally, his aged vocals quite strong but is clearly lacking on some of the range he is known for. I believe I read somewhere that this was probably the lowest point vocally in the bands career for him, if thats the case he still is showing up pretty darn strong. An interesting opener.
Awakening is another of these segue tracks this one featuring some lyrics,
Rob sounds decent, this could be where the seeds for
Sea Of Red came from.
Revelations segues in from the short transition, the, first, verse, is, broken, up, and, it, is, a, pain, to, listen, to. Without the fluidity of the normal verse format the song is a little hard to get hooked into. Once it shifts to a more fluid approach the track improves. This track really feels like it needs orchestral backing there is clear attempts at a more dynamic approach but the twin guitar attack doesn't quite reach it. The solo section is the highlight of this track, it really adds a lot of energy which has been lacking in it thus far and it provides a glimpse into a more classic sounding
Judas Priest album which is burried under all the themes of the album. The outro continues on the stronger side but when the track is 8 minutes long, saving the best for last isn't always the greatest plan. Another introductory track segues towards
War, a haunting little piece known as
The Four Horsemen features some great lower vocals from
Rob. War features some notablely more emphasised drumming than the previous tracks, the track doesn't really feature a solo section persay but instead a lenghty interlude within itself which sounds more thematic with the subject matter of war and the heavier drumming brings forth this imagry quite strongly. It is an okay track. As we enter track number 7 we are treated with another interlude/introductory track.
Pestilence and Plague comes in fast and aggressive, much more traditional
Priest sounding with the speedy guitar and drum assault. I believe the chorus is sung in
Latin but I could be very wrong on that front. Driving, powerful with some great orchestral backing, this is the first track since
Prophecy which really feels like a true
Priest track and it is one which I feel would be overlooked due to being in the middle of this bloated album.
Death comes up next, the first track on the album which doesn't feature a separate introduction! The tolling of bells is heard and a choir sings solemnly, we also get a tease of a high note from
Rob, the track takes a couple steps back from the amazingness of the previous track, I feel like this is
Priest's attempt at making a dark and moody war track similar to
War Pigs. It is a solid track, sprawling and it would be more effective if the album wasn't feeling so bloated at the 1/3rd mark.
Peace segues into
Conquest. This track continues on the approach of slowly feeling more like
Priest. I feel like at this point the bloated epics are getting a little old and the album needs some shorter punchy tracks to really warrant the fact that the album isn't even halfway through!!!!
Lost Love opens up with a piano introduction but the tracks overall length is a fair bit shorter than the others, but the track is a ballad and really the album doesn't need a slow track right now, the flow of the concept record really has been on the slower side throughout. I don't mind the track but the album doesn't need it. Disc 1 closes out with
Persecution, a whispered vocal introduction, which seems quite different from the rest of the song, seems off that this isn't separated based on how the album has been going thus far. Oh well, we get a speedier rocker coming in after the introduction is done. Quite quick as the track progresses. I could have seen this being a strong opening track to a tradtitional album.
Disc 1:
Dawn Of Creation/Prophecy - 8.5/10
Awakening/Revelations - 7.5/10
The Four Horsemen/War -7/10
Sands Of Time/Pestilence and Plague - 9/10
Death - 8/10
Peace/Conquest -7.5/10
Lost Love -7.5/10
Persecution -8/10
Disc 2 opens with
Solitude a track that introduces
Exiled at this point I'm pretty sick of the introductions, the album could have probably been a nice single disc without the many 1-3 minutes introductions.
Exiled is fairly slow and there are moments where it could be quite good but it just doesn't the track starts to get interesting in the last two minutes with
Rob reaching for the high notes singing fairly dramatically, it is too long and bloated.
Alone begins with acoustic guitar, and the track stays in this acoustic format with orchestral backing until the end of the first chorus when the band picks up slightly becoming more electric. There is some actual wails from
Halford on the chorus which is a welcome addition, but seriously it is proper track 10 before we hear him let loose any screams? It suffers from its length.
Shadows In Flames is a little acoustic piece which leads into
Visions, which is the albums second single, so I would have expected it to be a little more traditional but being that this album isn't known for being traditional I'm not surprised when the track isn't. It is the best track thus far on this disc. But well the previous two haven't been much to write home about.
Hope/New Beginnings is another symphonic track. I don't have much more to complain about. The album has so many moments but none of them are big enough to save the tracks they are on from being bloated and on an album with too many songs. The final segue track
Calm Before The Storm introduces the title track... clearly it doesn't know that the whole album has been relatively calm. The
title track comes in and it sounds like
Judas Priest is attempting to lead an opera before it suddenly launches into a hard rocking track, a brutal wail and actual speed and upbeat performance. Where has this energy been for the last hour and 20 minutes? A solid rocker which is a welcome addition to this very lackluster disc.
Album closer Future of Mankind is the longest track on the album, barring the inclusion of the interludes in the actual songs lengths that is. It is a pretty good track throughout, but it begins after an hour and a half of dramatic symphonic rock. I feel like if the majority of this second disc was gone I would find the track much stronger as I would be less burnt out from listening to it. It is one of the better tracks on the album but it comes in quite late.
Disc 2:
Solitude/Exiled -6.5/10
Alone -7/10
Shadows In Flames/Visions -7/10
Hope/New Beginnings -6.5/10
Calm Before The Storm/Nostradamus -8.5/10
Future Of Mankind -8/10
Adjusted 76%
Overall 76%
2.5 Stars
) and then I'll post mine.
