(Rated this album with 10 out of 10) Reviewed by
A music fan
from McKinney, Tx United States
Fans of Judas Priest have called them the Metal Gods at least since the British Steel album (which contained the song, "Metal Gods") was released, and as the decades have passed, Priest's members have shown the world how true that is. From the Sabbath-esque hard rock/heavy metal of Rocka Rolla to the neo-death metal of Demolition, Judas Priest has shown the ability to adapt to a changing metal scene and still be the best. A perfect example of this is Painkiller, arguably one of the best albums Priest has ever recorded. Painkiller has very little, if anything, in common with classics like Sad Wings of Destiny and British Steel (which are as different from each other as this album is from either of them). It's not classic metal, it's full-blown thrash, and it stands head and shoulders above the music of the younger thrash bands Judas Priest influenced. The album gets a running start with the apocolytic title track, and keeps up the pace with "Hell Patrol" and "All Guns Blazing". This lightning-fast pace is both a strength and a weakness. At first, it gets the heart racing and the adrenaline pumping, but by the time it gets to "Metal Meltdown", it's just exhausting, and the listener will, no doubt, be exhausted. Maybe putting the slower numbers ("A Touch of Evil", "One Shot at Glory") between the faster numbers instead of right next to eachother would have helped. None of this is to say that any of the music is bad. If you're a Priest fan, you'll be able to forgive the tiring pace and enjoy the music anyway. Though consistnelty entertaining, the standouts here are "Painkiller", "All Guns Blazing", and "Nightcrawler", with "A Touch of Evil" standing as one of Priest's best songs ever.
