By Avinash Mittur
Nearly two years ago, Judas Priest embarked on their farewell Epitaph tour. As we all know now though, things changed and the band has no intention of retiring any time soon. If the Epitaph tour was to have been their last, at least Priest would have gone out in a blaze of glory. The shows were the longest in the band’s history, and the performances only improved as the tour went on. For the two of us from Metal Assault who got to see the show, it was among the greatest we’ve ever seen. Judas Priest’s new DVD/Blu-Ray release, the aptly titled Epitaph, is a document of the band’s final show of the Epitaph tour at the Hammersmith Apollo in London, England. Epitaph is a wonderful keepsake for fans lucky enough to attend the tour, and an all-around great celebration of Judas Priest’s history.
Epitaph captures the Hammersmith gig in raw form, with plenty of mistakes left from nearly everyone in the band. Drummer Scott Travis is surprisingly the biggest offender here, failing to land a few fills and having an occasionally shaky grip on time. The guy makes up for it with a newfound reverence for the classic Priest material however. Nerdy and obsessive (or ‘dedicated’ as we prefer to be called) fans will spot that Travis really did some extra homework for this tour. An example can be heard during ‘Starbreaker’, when Travis emulates the hi-hat hits during the choruses that former drummer Les Binks played on Unleashed in the East, or the disco beats during ‘The Green Manalishi’ that had been absent for decades. On the stringed end of things, Glenn Tipton wields his axe with his signature level of flair, rarely straying from the parts he recorded while bassist Ian Hill does what he’s done for forty years now- stand on stage left, headbang and hit the root notes. As for the Metal God, Rob Halford turns in a show that is easily his best in years. The guy shows off his formerly dormant mid-high range, and lets out plenty of choice screams, most notably on ‘Blood Red Skies’. Halford also moves around more than he has in a very long time, effectively getting rid of his former reputation of remaining hunched over a teleprompter. Not too shabby for a sixty year old man with a back problem!
It’s the new guy, Richie Faulkner, who totally steals the show on Epitaph however. Faulkner’s energy and sheer charisma onstage is just a delight to behold, and his contributions to the classic tracks are nearly always stellar. A couple of them do fall a bit flat (those slides on ‘Rapid Fire’ really grind my gears for some reason), but most of the little fills that Faulkner adds are neat additions. What’s really notable are the extra solos he adds to some of the tracks. Faulkner and Tipton get an all new solo duel for ‘Heading Out to the Highway’, and Faulkner throws in a badass second solo to ‘Hell Bent for Leather’. His spot during ‘You’ve Got Another Thing Coming’ is also tasteful and melodic, much more so than Tipton’s amazingly lame three-note solo during the middle of ‘Victim of Changes’. Faulkner also respectfully stays within former guitarist K.K. Downing’s themes during the classic solos, but makes sure to add his Zakk Wylde-influenced licks throughout (and no, that doesn’t mean endless annoying pinch harmonics). Yes, Tipton/Faulker aren’t nearly as tight of a rhythm team as Tipton/Downing, but the two show more energy and passion for the material than has been seen in years. The five members all wear big smiles during every minute of Epitaph (all 140 of them!), and one can’t help but join in on their elation.
Now for the setlist for the show- the career spanning choice of songs flows wonderfully, from the pounding (like a battering ram?) opener ‘Rapid Fire’ to the bittersweet closing anthem ‘Living After Midnight’. It’s classic after classic with this show, with plenty of rare gems thrown in. Priest have a seemingly endless amount of unheralded great songs, but ‘Starbreaker’ was an inspired surprise, as was ‘Blood Red Skies’ from the ever underrated Ram It Down. ‘Diamonds And Rust’ is also given an all-new half acoustic/half electric treatment. It’s a wonderful compromise between the two styles of the song that Priest have experimented with in the last few years, and adds a new sense of weight and grandeur to the track. The immortal classics are accounted for sure, but those performances are nowhere near as cool as the lesser played ones. Case in point- Halford doesn’t bother singing a word of ‘Breaking the Law’, and skips the choruses of ‘Electric Eye’ entirely. It’s the kind of the thing that was fun live at the show, but just doesn’t work at home on the TV. The rest of the songs though, holy hell do they sound great! ‘Turbo Lover’ and ‘Blood Red Skies’ are given infinitely heavier and definitive runs on Epitaph, while the always amazing ‘The Sentinel’ crushes all who stand in its path. The tracks on Epitaph are some of the best songs in heavy metal history, and they’re nearly all given an outstanding treatment live.
When it comes to the production of the movie itself, things are unfortunately a bit of a mixed bag. The good news is that the audio is absolutely flawless. The band wisely chose to enlist the services of their former producer, ‘Colonel’ Tom Allom, and the renowned engineer gives Priest a fat, beefy mix that shows off the band’s talents like never before. Travis’ drums are thick, snappy and punchy, Faulkner and Tipton can each be picked apart from each other while still providing an ample foundation alongside Hill’s gelatinous bass and Halford’s voice soars on every track. This is the mightiest mix Priest have ever had, and it begs to be cranked loudly in a really nice home theater system. The video on the other hand, is problematic to say the least. Director Alex Walker opts for changing shots literally every other second, even during short guitar solos. The result is a visual experience that is extremely fatiguing, especially since the movie is already two and a half hours long. This is the kind of movie that you’ll want to put on in the background at a party and blast with the volume knocked to eleven. For me anyway, sitting down and giving Epitaph my undivided attention was just too visually exhausting.
When all is said and done, Epitaph is a more than worthy purchase for Judas Priest fans. It’s a wonderful souvenir of a fantastic tour, and an all around great show from one of the world’s mightiest metal bands. The band was in prime form for this show and tour, and anyone who was unfortunate enough to have missed out on the Epitaph Tour now have the chance to see what a great time they didn’t have. For the fellow Priest die-hards out there, buying Epitaph is a no-brainer. Everyone else should still have a great time with the music that lies inside though, and the movie would be one hell of a primer for the poor people who have yet to experience the Priest live. As for me, Epitaph will more than do until the next time I get to hear the words “Hello everybody, the Priest is back!”
Rating: 8.5/10
Release Date: May 28th, 2013
Track Listing:
Battle Hymn
1. Rapid Fire
2. Metal Gods
3. Heading Out To The Highway
4. Judas Rising
5. Starbreaker
6. Victim Of Changes
7. Never Satisfied
8. Diamonds And Rust
9. Prophecy
10. Night Crawler
11. Turbo Lover
12. Beyond The Realms Of Death
13. The Sentinel
14. Blood Red Skies
15. The Green Manalishi (With The Two-Pronged Crown)
16. Breaking The Law
17. Painkiller
The Hellion
18. Electric Eye
19. Hell Bent For Leather
20. You’ve Got Another Thing Coming
21. Living After Midnight
Links:
judaspriest.com
facebook.com/OfficialJudasPriest
twitter.com/Judas_Priest_FC