Don't Have A 'Panic Attack' But New Judas Priest Music is Here - From Invincible Shield Coming 2024
It’s been a very long 5 years since we last heard from the legends of heavy metal and an incredible 4 years since Wall of Sound sat down with The Metal God himself. Rob Halford and I discussed among other things their appearance at Download Festival 2019 and of course the 2018 album Firepower. You can find that interview HERE
And here we are a pandemic later and on the back of the announcement of the March 8th 2024 release of the new album Invincible Shield, Priest has dropped the new single 'Panic Attack'. There was no sneaky media preview so just as we were packing up for the night here in the Wall of Sound offices those boys in Birmingham decided now was the time to drop the song on streaming. No rest for the wicked, the defenders of the faith were calling.
First new song in 5 years, what do we think?
They say you can’t teach an old god new tricks, but why bother when the old tricks still work? What we have is an unequivocal Judas Priest song. This one feels like the Priest of old, but with shiny new features. When I last interviewed Rob we discussed mental health so the title 'Panic Attack' got me thinking if this has a personal meaning for the front man. With mentions of the doomsday clock and "fibre optic mass hypnotic" that wasn't to be. The intro has a real Turbo vibe to it and with Andy Sneap once again in the production chair this is no coincidence. Sneap has an old metal head on new shoulders who has a knack for melding new and old together.
What he's melded here are those unmistakable Rob Halford vocals backed up by the now famous twin guitar attack of Richie Faulkner and the legendary Glenn Tipton. If I was getting Turbo vibes from the intro, the rest of the song threw up a touch of Screaming For Vengeance with a smattering of Defenders Of The Faith. Even with what sounded suspiciously like Simmons drums in the synth-filled intro.
In short, this is Judas fucking Priest and after fifty years there’s no slowing this heavy metal juggernaut down.
Words by Gareth Williams
Pre-order/save Invincible Shield here
Judas Priest - Invincible Shield tracklisting
coming soon
https://youtu.be/N_l-trEOtbk?si=Rx33-4t-oaR8O9eV
