One of the oldest bands in Heavy Metal returns through flames of destruction to shake our foundations once more!

The Priest Is Back ladies and gentlemen!

Their last word was the Metal Meltdown - Live '98 Album. Since then the band had to face various problems which kept them out of sight and caused the fans, worldwide, to grow with anticipation. The band knew that their loyal fans were out there, waiting for them and as soon as they overcame their problems, they started preparing to ablaze the world with what they're known to have established thirty years now, together with mega-bands like Black Sabbath and that's none other than Pure Jaw-Breaking HEAVY METAL!

With Ripper Owens being their established singer and frontman, Judas Priest returns with a blasting album. It's name...'Demolition'.

When I first got a rough-mix copy of the album, I wasn't sure if I'd like what I'd hear when I'd put it on my CD player. You see, it took me time to get used to the 'Jugulator' sound, which was quite different from what I'd known up until then (when it comes to Priest of course).

'Machine Man' was the first track to hit my ears. With a 'Scott Travis' explosion in the beginning, I fell off my chair with an expression of joy drawn across my hairy face. It's a fast-rhythmed track with no outstanding lyrics but it gives you a feeling it sort of continues off from where Painkiller stopped...

'One on One' is one of my album's favorite tracks!'One on One is somebody like a big time wrestler coming into the ring' said Ripper Owens during our interview with him. It's a really heavy song, from vocals to guitars. It doesn't remind me of 'Jugulator', no it doesn't. It doesn't have to do with anything of Priest's past, at least that's the impression I have after listening to the album more than a billion times. It's Judas Priest nowadays!

'Hell Is Home' is a song I'd really like to hear them play it live (even though it's not on their European Set-List). It's not fast, it's not THAT slow...it's Heavy! Ripper's voice rocks and he constantly proves he sure is Judas Priest's singer today! I guess some people don't like his singing style in 'Hell is Home' as well as in 'Metal Messiah' because it reminds them...of rap or something like that. Well just for your information, Ripper is capable of singing pretty much anything he likes. He's got the voice capable of doing that and like he told us (read the Interview), Glenn likes making him sing in every possible, human way!

There are two ballads on 'Demolition'. 'Close To You' and 'Lost And Found'. Both these songs show a different Ripper Owens (you've heard him once more on Metal Meltdowns's live 'Diamonds And Rust'), softer with an amazing singing capability! I mostly like 'Lost And Found', which takes me back to the 70's...oh yes...you'll love this song!

'Cyberface' and 'Bloodsucker' have the classic Judas Priest sound, so many of us worship every day, bringing back memories of 'Defenders of the Faith' and 'Painkiller' slightly onto my mind. Boy 'Cyberface' has some amazing, hellbound screams! And like Ripper told us 'Well, the Bloodsucker is about the court case. It's about the kids who committed suicide and blamed Judas Priest for it in the States. That song's about the attorneys, honestly entitled Bloodsucker'.

Since I don't want to be a pest (hehe) and go on writing an endless review about 'Demolition',I'll sum up about the five remaining songs. They all have this mixing of times that is found throughout the whole album. This mixing includes memories of the past, sounds of today and a futuristic step ahead. I've said it before and I'll say it as many times as I think it's necessary. Albums and songs only come out once. There'll never be a second 'Painkiller', there will never be a second 'Stained Class' or 'Defenders of The Faith'. People should also accept the fact that Ripper is Judas Priest's singer and Rob Halford (who's my favorite singer) left a long time ago but still kicks ass...but on his own. I know there are a lot of narrow-minded people out there (who'll also read this review) which won't accept a good Priest album...even if it really is good! If they prefer listening to Judas Priest up until 'Painkiller' then they can at least stop making comments and stick only to the past.

I myself am a Judas Priest die-hard fan and I'll tell you this. I sure know how to tell if I like an album. The first time I played 'Demolition' on my CD player, I loved it, whereas that didn't happen with 'Jugulator' for example and I had to listen to that album more than 100 times to make me eventually like 3-4 tracks. 'Demolition' kicks ass from bottoms to tops and it's...Judas Priest!