Check out our galleries from Wacken Open Air festival in Germany featuring Rob Zombie, New Model Army, Europe, Sepultura, Opeth, Black Label Society, Judas Priest, Cradle of Filth, Danko Jones and much more. Photos by Isabel Thomas. Wednesday & Thursday Friday Saturday
Judas Priest have always had a ‘balls to the wall’ sound, largely courtesy of guitarists KK Downing and Glenn Tipton. So when Downing decided to abandon ship in 2011, it was the musical equivalent of Priest losing a bollock. Kicking off their seventh album, ‘Dragonaut’ positively tears out of the speakers, leaving you in no doubt that if this is Priest on one bollock, it’s still better than most other things. Redeemer of Souls is very much Judas Priest being ‘Judas Priest’, delivering molten slabs of classic heavy metal, stories of warriors, machines, and beasts. And by adhering to the…
Part of metal’s appeal is its terminal uncoolness. It can’t be co-opted, it isn’t ‘hip’, and it doesn’t easily translate to a mass audience. Sure, sometimes it has a dalliance with the mainstream, but there are always the hardcore contingent who take it to extremes, and they’re the ones who are still there when it slinks back to the darkness. Metal is, and always will be, outsider music. And if being uncool is what makes metal cool, then Judas Priest must be the coolest band on the planet. Their 1980 single ‘Breaking the Law’ remains their signature tune, and also…