Think I'll have to go and dig out Sad Wings of Destiny now, the nearest they probably came to Prog in the past.

"Nostradamus" is awesome - pure, blistering Priest, with all the bits you'd expect in a Priest track - and some nice surprises in the arrangement too. Love the keyboard work - nothing fancy, but it creates exactly the right atmospheres. The cycle of fifths stuff (like much of the song) hearkens back to "Exciter", and reminds me of Yngwie Malmsteen or even Randy Rhoades compositions (just as "Exciter" did).

 

The parallel movement in the choruses is a neat touch - really conjoures up an atmosphere of mediaeval chanting.

 

I don't think it's Prog in EXACTLY the same way I don't think that, say, Death are Prog - recalling that Death covered "Painkiller" virtually note-for-note, just down-tuning it to make it sound heavier - co-incidentally at the same time that Death's style changed into what some people seem to see as progressive - but I do think it's essentially the same as a lot of Prog Metal I've heard.

 

For old times' sake, I had another listen to "Painkiller" - what an amazing song that is, given it was written and released in 1990. Again, clearly the band that wrote "Exciter", but with a harder edge, and more tempo changes, more variety in episodic structure, and tasty little technical nuggets (won't get a Vai fan excited, but nonetheless, vastly improved over the "Exciter" days).

 

I'm still not saying it's Prog, mind - just seeing one or two passing similarities...

 

 

Listened to both http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendID=210419730 - here

 

 

Nightfly wrote:   Think I'll have to go and dig out Sad Wings of Destiny now, the nearest they probably came to Prog in the past.

 

Dig out "Rocka Rolla" - it's even closer. Rodger Bain's production is awesome too, which is why it sounds so Sabbath-like.

 

As for the new one, I can't make up my mind if I like it or not. First impressions were not enough classic Priest moments but I'm going to sit on it for a while before making my mind up.

 

I can't see any reference to anyone playing Keyboards on the liner notes so I suspect most of that is actually Guitar Synth, something they used quite a lot on Turbo.

 

How does it compare to Painkiller?

 

I agree, it does tend to stay at one pace, usually on the slower side for too long and these passages don't normally have any Drums either. I find myself wishing they would just kick ass a bit more than they do.

 

I'm not so sure your typical Priest fan is going to be overwhelmed by the material here, especially the die hard Metalheads. Those previously mentioned Symphonic passages may just leave them a bit cold, especially with the sheer abundance of them.

 

 

Certif1ed wrote: I was tempted to buy the album from what I've heard of the title track - are all the tracks pretty much along the same lines, then?   How does it compare to Painkiller?

 

Nothing like Painkiller. I think Painkiller was a response to much of the new metal around at the time like Pantera, as if to say look at us, we can be just as heavy as them. On Nostradamus the more riffy metal moments are spread too thinly and there's nothing in that area that they haven't done much better in the past.

 

I think the verdict on this album in the future is going to be an okay experiment but wont be up there with the classic Priest albums.

I am a big fan of a band that breaks out of it's own mold and I think Priest has done that here.  It would have made a killer single disc.  A good take but, I don't think it will make the CD player that often.