Author: Aleš Podbrežnik
Artist: Judas Priest
Label: Columbia Records
Release: 1997
Length: 58:13
Rating: 3/5
I was genuinely shocked and utterly desperate the first time I heard this record in 1997. Well, over the years I’ve apparently managed to learn to listen with love to even more extreme stuff in metal, and so this review finally makes sense coming from me, because I can now look at “Jugulator” without the frustration of “Boohoo, what a shame there’s no Halford anymore!”
Seven years after “Painkiller” (1990), Judas Priest struck back more extreme and aggressive than ever. Next to the brutalizing of the new record, “Painkiller” is an innocent little sparrow. The term “extreme” is normally used for death or black metal and the variations in between, but in Judas Priest’s case, if you look past what they used to be and what they became with Jugulator, it’s definitely a fitting word. Halford is gone. Canadian Tim “Ripper” Owens joined the band, and with his sheer power he flattens Halford in every single section. Ripper doesn’t have a voice with as recognizable a tone as Rob Halford, and he isn’t as charismatic a figure as Rob was, but the guy fearlessly shook off the shadow of the famous legacy his predecessor left behind. Tim approached “Jugulator” without a shred of imitation of or respect for Halford and sang everything totally his own way. Extreme, just like Judas Priest demanded of him.
If “Painkiller” served up a few detours into half-step-down aggression, “Jugulator” is packed with them, because Priest bite down like frenzied pit bulls. If it doesn’t blow your head off in the scant hour of listening to this record, you’ll still end up lying in the arms of your armchair, completely drained and exhausted from the endless hail of kicks and punches.
We can easily slap the label progressive on the title track. It’s well known that Judas Priest have always liked to experiment freely, and this time was no different. The title track has some of the most complex rhythm-section passages, massive, scorching riffing that keeps shedding its skin from motif to motif, and phenomenal acrobatics from Ripper, who makes it clear he’s stronger than Halford, especially in the mid and low registers, while his sharp, clean screams immediately announce he can do whatever he wants with his voice. Tim’s aggressive mid-range vocals are pushed even further by the dark, gloomy mood served up through the half-step-down guitar riffing, which creates an outstanding atmosphere across the songs all along the record..
Bloodstained has a fantastic, classically crafted main guitar riff. Together with tracks of similar caliber, Burn In Hell, Bullet Train, Death Row and Dead Meat, it’s one of many impressive moments of K.K. and Glenn’s frenzied guitar “shredding”. These tracks are all devilishly wound up, groovy as hell, spewing fire with everything they’ve got and carrying thrilling contrasts between terrorizingly brutalized noise and whatever melody is left. But the new punch Judas Priest achieved is the most devastating moment in the band’s history. The superb contrast in these tracks is caught between the torpedoing of the double bass pedal and the sharp, chopping guitars. Tim keeps adapting his vocals throughout, with a varied set of his specialties. These tracks are moments of explosion and total, uncompromising detonation. Interestingly, for the first time in many years the guitar duels somehow lose their primacy in the band’s expression. Everything revolves around white-hot riffing, and the expressiveness of the guitar solos is also toned down by Ripper and all the rawness with which he so convincingly floods the listener.
There are also a few songs with more dramatic, atmospheric outlines. First up is Abductors, where Ripper really shines with sudden leaps between the most arrogant, angry low registers and perfectly clean ultrasonic “screams”. One of those songs where Ripper’s sense of drama is especially on display is Brain Dead. The epic peak and the atmospheric high point of the record is undoubtedly Cathedral Spires, where a multi-voiced choir joins the guy in the chorus, and Tim’s main line plays off it brilliantly. It’s the longest song Judas Priest ever wrote, clocking in at a good 9 minutes. Cathedral Spires is also the song where Judas Priest offered the most melody on the record, and it will surely grab the attention of the band’s “Halford era” fans more successfully than any of the others. I can’t leave out Decapitate either, which in translation reads rather cutely: “remove the head”. It’s the slowest song, with a rolling rhythm, heavy placement of hits across the drum fortress, and once again groovy, riff-packed guitars. The song has excellent sonic depth and fullness, with an interesting palette of vocal harmonies deliberately deformed through sound effects, which really bring a frightening feeling to life in the track. “You’ve lost your head sir!? Well, you will tomorrow!” A horror flick of a song full of “scary” guitar “licks”, in short, a really interesting creation from the band’s pen.
Judas Priest reached their goal. The result is once again a record of totally unique dimensions, repeatable only by the band themselves. The lyrics are full of anger, pain and disappointment about the life of the little guy, living a present wrapped in the spell of surveillance and control. Not a tiny spark of light can be found, either in the music or in the lyrics. The record is a total assault of cruel reality. Judas Priest laid down fantastically together the aggressive, half-step-down guitar incineration that hits you right between the eyes, the confident and varied singing of Ripper Owens, who is far more aggressive than Halford, and the excellent drumming of Scott Travis, who has even “grown” compared to “Painkiller”. Just like always. Utterly convincing. All the factors amplify each other. To be devastating, punchy, the noisiest, everything on “Jugulator” is wound up and cranked to its extreme limits. Always on their own path. With “Jugulator” Judas Priest won over new fans, especially from among thrash metal lovers, and lost the hardened defenders of the classic era with Rob Halford. But that last part is nonsense. “Jugulator” is a fantastic record that shines with all its sincere heart, fully committed to its mission. Judas Priest did once again what they’ve done throughout their career. From record to record they cranked up their noise, and “Jugulator” is the band’s most furious and aggressive record since “Painkiller”. Just one in a long line of the band’s many faces.
Line-up
Tim “Ripper” Owens – vocals
Glenn Tipton – guitar
K.K. Downing – guitar
Ian Hill – bass
Scott Travis – drums
Production
Glenn Tipton, K.K. Downing & Sean Lynch
Tracklist
1. Jugulator
2. Blood Stained
3. Dead Meat
4. Death Row
5. Decapitate
6. Burn in Hell
7. Brain Dead
8. Abductors
9. Bullet Train
10. Cathedral Spires
Album length: 58:07
