Judas Priest have decided that March Of The Damned will be the lead-off single from their forthcoming studio album Redeemer Of Souls.
On Monday, May 19th, the official lead-off single from the album, March Of The Damned, will be released to rock and metal radio, and will be available for purchase via all digital sales providers. Additionally, on the same day, preorders for the full album will be made available through iTunes.
As the band themselves said about March Of The Damned, “Our passion for heavy metal has never diminished, and this track sounds off with real conviction!”
Redeemer Of Souls will be made available from Epic Records on Tuesday, July 8th as both a standard version and a deluxe edition with five bonus tracks.
16 Responses
Sounds like ozzy phoning it in..
Ok, I’ll put it this way. I do give some of our bands of advanced age – particularly vocalists – a bit of leeway in judgement of new material. I can’t realistically expect the same range and fury of a 25 year old out of a 60 something, even if he is the “Metal God”. Also for any bands with 30, 40 and more years under their belts, I don’t really expect anything so completely fresh and new that it sounds like nothing else they’ve ever done. I do give immense credit though to bands like Priest, Sabbath, Rush, etc. who still have the desire and ability to continue at this advanced stage of their careers. To varying degrees, they still produce quality music worthy of playing alongside the treasured “classics”. I didn’t like the first track that was available for listening off this album, and I’m not blown away by this one but I do like it more. Rob Halford does indeed sound very laid back here, but to be fair there are many songs in the Priest catalog that he sings in a similar style. One of his hallmarks, to me anyway, is his versatility. He’s never been strictly a screamer – though it would have been nice here to have a bit more Halford power in some places. I’m guessing that’s Ritchie Faulkner on the solos, sounds kind of Zakk Wylde – like, and I mean that as a compliment. Overall I’ll grade this track a B-minus.
excellent post, now that’s what I’m talking about. no insults, no BS! great points, great post.
Agreed…
Well……..
When I heard the song Redeemer of Souls, I said that despite being a huge Judas Priest fan, the song didn’t do anything for me, and that it lacked something and I didn’t want to start a “They’re not the same without KK Downing” argument, but if that song was anything to go by, then they’re not the same without KK Downing. I also said that I would give the other songs on the album a listen before making a final judgement.
So now I hear March of the Damned. The riff is better than R.O.S, but again it just doesn’t grab me like the other stuff does. I’m probably one of only a handful of JP fans that actually doesn’t mind the “Turbo” album (Gasp!! Shock horror!!), and I’ll tell you why: “It shows a band not afraid to try something new.” O.K, it didn’t go down too well with the majority, and they went back to the harder stuff. But the difference between JP of yesterday and the JP of today is…….KK Downing.
Remember, JP was really his band, although Ian Hill was there from the start as well. Listen to KK’s riffs and solos: The bite, the aggression, the partnership with Glenn Tipton, they just gel together perfectly. Now listen to the new stuff….. Something’s missing.
Are JP wrong to continue without KK? I don’t believe we will know why KK really decided to walk away, and therefore we can’t really pass comment on whether or not JP should have stopped as well. Again, I will give the other tracks a listen, but so far, the two songs have just not grabbed me, and as a huge JP fan, I find this disturbing.
except richie ,these guys are over 60!! What the hell is wrong with you guys?? These 2 songs are pretty damn good. I agree the vocals are restrained, but both songs have great Priest vibe. Thank God the terrible sounding guitar sound is gone, that soundede garbled. I give both songs solid B’s. I’m totally in on day one. I like this better than Sabbaths album so far. Very few of our Hero bands are putting anything out, letalone quality music. Appreciate what we are still being given guys!!! Support your Metal till the end!!
its not terrible. looking forward to hearing the whole album.