“Invincible Shield” – Judas Priest

Album: Invincible Shield

Artist: Judas Priest

Year: 2024

Genre: Heavy Metal

Grade: B+

Judas Priest’s 19^th album, Invincible Shield, is relentless — hard-rocking heavy metal that simply does not quit. It leaves a trail of scorched earth in its wake, every song filled with pummeling riffs, high-energy vocals and face-melting guitar solos. The fact that the band has been active for over 50 years only adds to the impressiveness.

Priest has had a career of ups and downs. As one of metal’s founding fathers along with Black Sabbath, they solidified their sound with 1975’s Sad Wings of Destiny, transitioned to stadium-ready thrash in 1980 with British Steel, floundered with a mainstream sound for much of the ‘80s, unleashed a destructive masterpiece in 1990 with Painkiller, floundered again for much of the next couple decades, and surprisingly returned to form in 2018 with Firepower, an album that showed they have plenty left in the tank despite the core members (singer Rob Halford, guitarist Glenn Tipton, drummer Scott Travis and bassist Ian Hill) pushing 70.

Invincible Shield is another fan-pleasing effort, with Halford wailing like an immortal banshee, rallying against God, Satan and modern society for 50 minutes straight. All the while, the twin guitars of Tipton and Richie Faulkner provide a continuous commentary that touches on everything Priest has learned over the years: punishing thrash, classical speed and an emphasis on simple power chords.

Not often does a band as legendary and long-lasting as Judas Priest release one of their best albums this far into their career, but that’s exactly what Invincible Shield is. Every song is good, even if there are no obvious standouts. The tracks all blend in a continuous roar of thunder, one victory lap after another, which can be both a blessing and a curse — from opener “Panic Attack” to closer “Giants in the Sky,” everything is played with the same speed, volume and grandiosity. Either way, if you want an album guaranteed to get your head banging, then this is certainly it. Flip to any random track, and you’ll get the result you want.

Perhaps what is most striking about the last two Priest albums is how thoroughly modern they sound. The hi-fi production values provide a clean sheen, but in songwriting prowess alone they sound like the most purposeful metal band going. If Invincible Shield was a different band’s debut, it’d still be acclaimed for its adherence to the genre’s powerful principles. As a legacy-defining statement from one of metal’s most recognizable names, it’s an inspired work of semi-genius.

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