Album Review: Judas Priest's "Invincible Shield" (2024)

While many legacy bands choose to rest on their laurels, releasing lukewarm records and loftily coasting on their past successes, 2024's "Invincible Shield" is a fiery affirmation that genre pioneers Judas Priest's reputation as the "heavy metal gods" is more than well-earned. As one of the most veteran bands in the genre, there is little doubt British heavy metal outfit Judas Priest knows the importance of catchy hooks, riffs, and solos. While not every riff is as memorable as “Breaking the Law,” and not every chorus as outstanding as "The Sentinel,” “Invincible Shield” manages to hold its own against the band's legendary 50-year discography. Nineteen studio albums in and guitarists Glenn Tipton & Richie Faulkner continue to keep it interesting with the melodic harmonies and chunky riffage the band made synonymous with the genre in the 70s. "The Falcon" Faulkner's shredding leads on "Invincible Shield" are especially outstanding and easily among the best of his career, most notably his face-melting solo break on the album's title track. In the rhythm section, Scott Travis' technical, double-kick-heavy drumming is a particular highlight & founding member Ian Hill's ever-present bass still fuels the turbocharged engine driving each song to this day. And, of course, any Judas Priest album would be remiss without singer Rob Halford's unique brand of ear-splitting falsetto wails and theatrical, anthemic lyricism, but the seventy-three-year-old vocalist far exceeds expectations, giving his most dynamic performance in years. Seeing them perform live, Santa Claus-bearded Halford smashed all doubts of his longevity when he took to the microphone and tore through the audience like it was 1982. His lyrical style is still as gleefully over-the-top as ever, standing in stark contrast to the more cerebral subtlety adopted by many modern artists. Lines like "there's still time left to do what's right, eliminate those parasites and force your mind amidst the angry throng," bring a classic metal bombast to "Invincible Shield" that, mixed with the overall optimistic tone of the album, never fails to make me smile even in its weaker moments. These "weaker moments," however, are few and far between, as the first half of the record rips through some of the best material the band has released in decades. 52 minutes of screamin' heavy metal later, the album closes out with the powerful "Giants in the Sky," a sincere homage to fallen icons of the genre. If this is to be their last effort as a band, I'd be hard-pressed to find a better way for the "metal gods" to go out. 2024's "Invincible Shield," while characteristically aggressive as a metal album, is aptly named as it carries a persistent theme of hope and unity. Though it can come off as cheesy at times, this record is another unapologetic statement from the original "defenders of the heavy metal faith," that there's no school like the old school.