Demolition

Demolition is the thirteenth album on which Judas Priest, fully using Tim “Ripper” Owens’s wide range, tries several different kinds of heaviness. From straight metal songs to a heavy, sinking groove and melodic passages, it greatly changes expression from song to song. Inheriting the direction of the previous Jugulator while pursuing more variety. From the aggression of the opener “Machine Man” and the heavy groove of “One On One” to the drama of “Hell Is Home” and “Bloodsuckers” and “Metal Messiah,” the songs carry a wide range of textures. While taking in modern heaviness, a Judas Priest stylistic beauty peeks out throughout. Owens’s expressive singing powerfully pulls the varied songs together. It is a work on which the breadth of the challenge, over unity, comes to the fore, but that honestly conveys the band’s standing in this period. Keeping the frame of traditional metal while exploring different textures, it is ambitious content. Capping the Owens era and marking a break before Rob Halford’s return, it is a many-sided, intriguing record.