Judas Priest - Angel Of Retribution • CDs • Vinyl Records • LPs • Music Albums

Devil" and alludes to vintage song titles throughout. Instead of trend-hopping, there's "Lochness," a grinding thirteen-and-a-half-minute metal-folk tune devoted to the mythical Scottish water beast. You cannot get any more old-school than that.

Amazingly, these fiftysomething headbangers pull it off. On "Hellrider," guitarists Glenn Tipton and K.K. Downing revive the well-conceived solos that most heavy bands avoid these days. Halford is in excellent form, particularly on the ballads. His gayness has for decades given semihidden weight to the group's outlaw lyrical metaphors (not to mention its leather dress code). Here it baldly informs "Angel," where Halford calls out to a gender-indeterminate spirit he prays will bring him to a better place. It's an honest power ballad from a band that understands power like few others, the centerpiece to an album that holds up well next to Priest's strongest, most sustained recordings. Now that's retribution.

The heavyweights of heavy metal heavyweights return with a ridiculous amount of power, especially for dudes that have been at it as long as Priest have (read: forever). "Judas Rising" is a majestic call to arms, and from there they kick out the non-stop leather-tough chug they pioneered. It's as if rap metal never happened.