Leather. Motorcycles. Thousands of cars and a million guitars. The wrenching pain of forbidden love, terrifying robots and Nostradamus — for the last 50 years, Judas Priest has had their finger on the pulse of true heavy metal, culturally, sonically and visually. While 1980's British Steel demonstrated the band's mainstream appeal with hard rock anthems like "Breaking the Law" and "Living After Midnight," their oeuvre has been foundational to the dark parasol of heavy subgenres. Arguably their heaviest record, Painkiller, not only influenced the technical madness of death metal pioneers Death, but also the look and sound of the 2000s metalcore scene. Hell, even Thin Lizzy owe Priest credit for pioneering the iconic twin-lead guitar style — and we wouldn't have bands like Mastodon or Metallica without Lizzy. While there are certainly some excellent legacy metal acts still out there, none of them (at least in my opinion) have been as consistently powerful, and influential, as Priest.
That legacy continued this year when the heavy metal hellraisers released their 19th studio album, Invincible Shield. While the follow-up to 2018's Firepower (another excellent heavy metal record) doesn't exactly break any new ground for the band, I'm not sure anyone would want it to in 2024. It has Rob Halford's iconic, truly powerful and virtuosic vocals, ferocious riffs for days, some of the best hooks of the year and pummeling drums. Tracks like "Panic Attack," "Invincible Shield" and "As God as My Witness" are all A-class certified headbangers. My personal favorite track is the slightly doomier "Escape from Reality" — I think it's one of the heavier tracks Judas Priest has put out in a while, both musically and lyrically.
Judas Priest hasn't been through the Northwest since 2018, and the group doesn't always make it up this way. But that will change when the band charges into Spokane Arena on Oct. 6. While Judas Priest is full of life on stage, and the guys have gained a sort of heavy metal immortality, the band is getting older — just three years ago, longtime guitar player Richie Faulkner had a heart attack on stage — so make sure you don't miss this chance to see the legendary Judas Priest in action.
Remember to rock hard and ride free.
Ahead of Judas Priest's Spokane show, we chatted with drummer Scott Travis about still touring, Invincible Shield and more.
INLANDER: As a longtime Judas Priest fan myself, Invincible Shield absolutely rips. A lot of the legacy acts, when they start getting toward album 20, it's something you listen to because you feel like you're obligated to do so out of respect. But, I find myself listening to Invisible Shield quite a bit — it has that Defenders of the Faith or Ram It Down 1980s era vibe. I was wondering what went into making that record so powerful? What were some of your favorite tracks to play?
TRAVIS: Well, I'll answer the last one first. I enjoy "Invincible Shield," the title track. It's just got a cool intro, and a great chorus. It's fun to play — and it's in the new set.
It's hard to put a finger on why the record came out the way it did. When you do a record — whether it's one song or 10 or 12 — you always try to put out the best thing you can and hope the fans enjoy it. But you never know when you're in the studio if you've got a "successful" record, so you always do the best you can. Invincible Shield seemed to grab a lot of people; it brought in some new fans while also satisfying the old Judas Priest fans. We're thrilled to death about it.
That is monumental — still bringing in new fans with album 19. I saw y'all for the first time at Northern Quest Casino, at an outdoor show for the Firepower tour in 2019, and I was blown away by how powerful the band still sounds — Rob, especially.
What can fans expect from this tour? You mentioned playing some rippers off Invincible Shield. Any classic Priest songs you're looking forward to playing?
Well, we have to do a lot of the "classics" of Judas Priest, which is a good problem to have. When a band has a 50-year career, there's a lot of songs, and you have to continually play the ones most familiar to the audience. That's a privilege and a treat.
We're going to do stuff like "Sinner," for instance — an old classic Judas Priest song that never gets old. Even as many times as I've played it with the band, I just love it. It's a cool, nasty, heavy metal song, and it's pure Judas Priest.
We'll play two songs from the new record and, of course, "Painkiller" — can't do a Priest show without that. The stage set is different than it was for Firepower. It's streamlined and looks great with the lights — we've got all the typical heavy metal, Spinal Tap props you're supposed to have at this stage of our career. We'd bring out lasers and fire if we could, but some arenas don't allow that, so we can't.
You're also touring with Sabaton. How's it been sharing the stage with them?
They're great guys, and we get along with them personally, which is important. The camaraderie is great. Their stage set is awesome. I won't give it away, but their drum riser is probably one of the coolest I've ever seen. They go over well, and even if some people in the audience haven't heard them before, they always get a good reception.
If you're into more traditional heavy metal, you definitely know of them — but I'm sure there are new Judas Priest fans who might be in for a treat seeing them. Are you going to borrow any ideas from that drum riser for future shows?
No, no, it'd be too obvious to steal something like that!
Anything you want to leave us with regarding playing in Spokane?
We haven't played there in several years. We always tour the West, but we don't always get to the Northwest. We always draw good crowds there, so I'm looking forward to it. It's my favorite time of year — the fall. It's crisp outside, not too cold, and definitely not hot and humid like now. I'm really looking forward to it. The band's excited to play all these places we haven't been to in a while. ♦
Judas Priest, Sabaton • Sun, Oct 6 at 7:30 pm • $40-$130 • All ages • Spokane Arena • 720 W. Mallon St. • spokanearena.com
