Album Review : Angel of Retribution - Judas Priest***** Good God and bloody hell fire the grand old camp high priest of heavy metal is back with his band and the word is, it is very bloody good indeed. Since their last proper album with Rob Halford, the magnificent Painkiller way back in 1990, the Priest have knocked out a few albums with 'Ripper' Owens on vocals, but they were not the real thing. Here, on the opening track, as the guitars wind up, a noise begins, high pitched screaming that goes on and on and on and then, BOOM, Judas Priest are back in action. This is a near flawless album, massive riffs, tight drumming, Rob's vocal histrionics and well written songs, 'Judas Rising', 'Hellrider, 'Demonizer', they're all set to instant Priest classics, as soon as those big guitar licks start thundering out you get a silly grin on your face, your head starts nodding, fingers twitching as you reach for your trusty old air guitar. It's obvious that Halford, Downing, Tipton and Co are still getting the same kick from making music that they had when they started the band way back in the dawn of time (or about 1973). The lyrical style, all angels, demons and slightly made up things, remains exactly the same, and the music is just fantastic, so many fast bands lose pace when they get older (just look at Metallica, ha), but the Priest have produced an album packed with fast, memorable songs played with all the verve and venom they had first time around. What sets Priest apart from nearly every other British rock band at the moment (with the exception of Muse, The Wildhearts and Feeder) is that they can actually write songs. Songs that you can remember, songs with big, infectious hooks that get you singing along and punching the air with joy. This is proper heavy metal done well, and a whole slew of Brit metallers (Eden Maine, Hondo McClean, Hell Is For Heroes, Hundred Reasons and a whole many more) ought to listen to this album and take a big lesson in how to write songs. There are ten tracks on the album, a couple of nice changes of pace some along with the ballad 'Angel' and the mid paced 'Worth Fighting For', the only slightly duff note comes with the last track 'Loch Ness' with lyrics as plausible as any Spinal Tap number, but, even after saying that, I've still been singing along to it. I know it is early in the year, and there is a lot of music to come (including SOAD), but I think this just might be the album of the year.