I've always adored Priest ever since discovering British Steel in my youth. Going on vacation gave me the perfect moment to pause on this record. Racing down the slopes with the hooks of Bloodstone, Devil's Child & Freewheel Burning stuck in my head, it all clicked. I'd never given their other records much of a chance to stick. Songs like Painkiller, Rapid Fire and Come And Get It grab you by the throat and scream in your face. In fairness, it seems that much of their catalog does to. Now with a maturer mind to really give any music a proper go, I've realized what Ive loved about Judas Priest has been lying in wait, abundant among their extensive discography, were I had not ventured far enough before in my ignorance.
You've Got Another Thing Coming is the one song I knew well from this record. As a mid tempo track with a tempered chugging grove on the rhythm guitar and Halford's attitude drenched lyrics, it plays like a British Steel cut. Lying in wait however are fiery tracks. Cranking up the gears, throttling the pace and amping up the Priest persona, you can hear the group excelling on themselves. Heavy Metal's eternal pursuit of pushing extremes has led it to ridiculous places but before the birth of Thrash Metal you can hear Priest raising the stakes step by step, writing amazing songs along the way, never detouring to the trend, keeping the flame lit.
And thus Screaming For Vengeance is another spirited, fist pumping romp of blazing Metal! Priest churn out the riffs, rife with steely rattles of melody wedged between shiny grooves. Halford's falsetto wails youthfully with that leather cladded attitude, worming his hooks into you as his soaring voice sails off the back of electrified guitars. When they burst into solos the atmosphere is magnetic, their instruments at the mercy of Downing and Tipton's impressive roar off howling pinch harmonics, dizzying sweep picking and relentless hammering on. All happening in the blink of an eye.
Where the album excels is in its pacing. Tracks like Pain And Pleasure, Take These Chains & Fever brake up the motorway blazing pace with a touch of moody reflective blues wrapped into anthems. Every spin brings joy after joy as the high spirited onslaught takes a few turns and twists along the way. Some of these songs also sound rather foundational to shifts of temperament found on the later records. This certainly feels like a high point for the band. I'm not sure where In the discography I want to jump to next, maybe go right to the very start and hear the evolution? Eighties Priest is certainly something to marvel but just how did they get here?
Rating: 9/10