• Voto:
In uno scenario di inizio nuovo millennio, dopo un bel "Jugulator" (1997), dopo che Tim "Ripper" Owens è riuscito a dimostrare di poter lottare contro gli acuti di sua maestà Rob Halford, i geniali ed imprevedibili inventori del Metal escono allo scoperto con questo "Demolition". Il disco in questione è considerato in assoluto il peggiore dei Judas Priest. A torto o a ragione? Andiamo a scoprirlo.
Il buon "Jugulator", contenente la possente "Cathedral Spires" e l'anthem "Burn In Hell", fu sottoposto ad aspre critiche da parte dei fan del Classic Heavy Metal, mentre una parte dei seguaci della band cercava di apprezzarlo, riuscendoci con molta fatica e commentandolo positivamente a denti stretti, e l’altra lo stroncava brutalmente. A quattro anni da quella mutazione genetica, che segnava il definitivo punto di svolta dall'ormai "polveroso" (si fa per dire) "Painkiller", che cosa mai ci proporranno KK e Glenn? A mio parere una discreta dose di Metal futuristico, appartenente ad un mondo dominato dall'industrializzazione e da macchine assassine di un'era tecnologica lontana. Potrebbe essere solo una personale impressione, ma sia i testi, che le serrate ritmiche di chitarra e batteria (ottimo Scott Travis), e le atmosfere nebulose e grigie, richiamano tutto questo da molto vicino.
Considero la strada intrapresa la naturale evoluzione di una band storica, che viene catturata dagli anni 90. Questo "Demolition" è inferiore al suo predecessore, ma non è assolutamente un disco da buttare. Certo che per un non-appassionato del nuovo stile risulta pressoché indigeribile. La struttura è più o meno simile per tutti i pezzi. Qualche intermezzo acustico, molta pesantezza e poca velocità, composizioni non statiche, ma troppi pezzi, e alcuni di questi decisamente troppo lunghi. Si apre con "Machine Man", che mostra tutto il nuovo sound dei Priest, dalle ritmiche Fear Factory, ad un testo pseudo Nu-Metal davvero imbarazzante. L'esuberanza dell'elettronica si sente in "One On One", mentre "Hell Is Home" è la prova del nove per Owens, che per attitudine e altezza raggiunta dalla sua voce, potrebbe essere considerato il Robert Halford del nuovo millennio. Superata. Se "Jekyll And Hyde" è l'esteriorità dei nuovi Judas, tutta pesantezza e zero sentimento, "Close To You" è il pezzo migliore del disco, un lento che sa trasportare grazie a gelide melodie, ed una voce sospesa fra un intimista Layne Staley e l'attitudine di un Owens che di classe ha da venderne. Pessima "Devil Digger" e tanto basta, noiosa fino alla fine, potente, ma della quale si può fare a meno. "Bloodsuckers" è il pezzo duro che si distingue, per l’ esperienza di musicisti di vecchia data che sanno ancora graffiare, per il riff rubato a "Painkiller" e per la massiccia dose di Nu-Metal.
La voce diventa molto calda ed avvolgente in "In Between", pezzo di base lenta con aspri cambi di tono, mentre "Feed On Me" è solo un Hard Rock tirato a lucido e pronto per il nuovo millennio. Sa tanto di artificiale. "Subterfuge" è la noia imperante, "Lost And Found" la ballata dallo scarso appeal di cui non si poteva fare a meno, molto senso pratico ed esperienza a servizio dell'inutilità. In "Cyberface" arrivano i Metallica del periodo tamarro, comunque con qualche trovata intelligente ed un suono moderno e accattivante. Un basso pompato e un titolo anthemico (passatemi il ridicolo termine) non bastano a trasformare "Metal Messiah" nell’inno per le generazioni metalliche future. Chiude "What's My Name", l'ennesima occasione per sparare bordate di violenza. Alla fine questo disco dalle sonorità mediocri fa venire in mente fabbriche, presse, saldatori, martelli pneumatici. Il metallo è anche questo.
È forse il peggior disco dei Judas per un fan dei Judas, ma cercando di dare un giudizio conclusivo obiettivo, la sufficienza viene raggiunta grazie a tanta tecnica, un grande cantante e qualche idea buona, ma interpretata con confusione, troppo mestiere e davvero poco sentimento.
Voto: 6
Elenco tracce testi e video
04 Jekyll and Hyde (03:19)
Your innocence all but fades
When we peel the veneer away
It's all an act which you stage
With your two faced barricades
Rage consumes
You every night
Caged inside you
Trying to get out
Schizophrenic basic needs
Fools me into complacency
But now I see through your facade
Behind the mask a monster snarls
Hatred burning
In your chest
Dazed but learning
In your quest
Oh it's killing me your unpredictability
Oh all the time
You hide behind
Your Jekyll and Hyde
Now I realise
There's a dark side
Disguised
Always changing
Then love hating
Baiting me
Your innocence all but fades
When we peel the veneer away
It's all an act which you stage
With your two faced barricades
Rage consumes you every night
Caged inside you trying to get out
07 Bloodsuckers (06:18)
Don't speak to me of morality
Justice wrong or right
You dig the dirt ignore the hurt
And spit out all your lies
Conscience free as we bleed
Hypocrisy born from greed
Don't preach to me of integrity
Or your legal highs
The judge's thrilled
He's dressed to kill
On TV every night
Subliminal - so absurd
It's criminal - yet can't be heard
Bloodsuckers - how can they sleep at nights
Bloodsuckers - nothing but parasites
You will be on the stand today
They cannot harm you - it's okay
But they will destroy your family
And drag you through Hell and tragedy
A circus heading into town
Complete with cameras and the clowns
The first amendment shot to bits
The world is watching just for kicks
As the day drew close to hand
For all to view the faceless man
He put out the lights - it's sad
Now who's to blame for that ?!
Intimidate twist what you say
With their fine points of law
They lose the case but proficate
And then appeal some more
Subliminal - it's so absurd
It's criminal - but can't be heard
I promise to tell the truth
The whole truth
And nothing but the truth
So help me God!
You will be on the stand today
They cannot harm you - it's okay
They will destroy your family
And drag you through Hell and tragedy
Bloodsuckers parasites
09 Feed on Me (05:28)
They are dying on the dance floor,
They are lyin' in debris.
They are fadin from exhaustion
From their mortal injuries.
They are hungry and need feeding,
They resign themselves to fate.
They are desparate men,
Death's written on their face.
When your will to live is almost gone
And you're left alone but you need someone
Feed on me,
Feed on me
They're outgunned and outnumbered
But they'll never turn to run
And 'In the name of freedom'
Is written with their blood
Some would call them mercenary
But they always knew the pain
Inevitably far outweighs the gain
When the hunger strikes you down again
And you feel your inner strength has drained
Feed on me
Feed on me
Feed on me
Feed on me - I got what you need
Feed on me
Feed on me - Don't accept defeat
10 Subterfuge (05:12)
Holy Father drink the firewater
Preaching peace as you go to war
Politicians making brave decisions
Always got self interest at heart
We are to you just a drop in the ocean
Maybe that's true but it's only a notion
You integrate with friendly intrusion
We won't get fooled we have come to conclusion
chorus
Subterfuge deludes the views of you and me
We're confused but still we choose to disagree
Subterfuge consumes us but defiantly
We refuse to bow down to conformity
Evil mothers hiding under covers
Always near but just out of sight
Hey big brother - watch as we recover
'Cause we'll never give up the fight
And we say no!
Give us a name and you give us the power
Watch as we gather our strength by the hour
You think we're blind and weak in decision
But we see it all from peripheral vision
chorus
Somebody wins, somebody lose
Some call it subterfuge
Somebody wins, somebody lose
They fall to subterfuge
chorus
Somebody wins, somebody lose
Some call it subterfuge
Somebody wins, somebody lose
They fall to subterfuge
11 Lost and Found (04:57)
[G. Tipton, K.K. Downing]
I always used to be afraid
That I was going to lose my way
I never used to walk in line but stray
I never thought I'd see it through
That I could deal with losing you
But suddenly I see the light of day
Leading me in
From out of the night
Staying on course - I'm still alive
I had to confess I never thought I would ever survive
I was lost and found
I had run aground
I was lost but now I'm found
Focused on my altered state
I would just disorientate
Suffering alone amongst the crowd
Drifting on a sea of doubt
And no one ever heard me shout
That I was lost and couldn't find my way
No one at hand
Having no plan
Stumbled through a barren land
After so long
Of going wrong
I found the road
I was lost and found
I had run aground
I was lost but now I'm found
I was lost and found
I had hit the ground
I was lost but now I found
That I don't need no one
To survive
You've got to believe alone
You'll rise
Starting to run
Shedding the load
Now I can see I'm close to home
After so long
Of going wrong
I found the road
I was lost and found
I had run aground
I was lost but now I'm found
12 Cyberface (06:45)
He lies in wait
For one mistake
Morphing on your screen
Those who dare
Or the unaware
Download him for a scream
Don't access the site
Or beware his megabyte
No virus scan
Detects the man
Or the deadly tasks he plans
Drooling lips
His circuits lit
He crouches for attack
Spider like on the web
Alive and well
But you are dead
Iniquitous in every way
Now he's come out to play
Cyberface
Iron will
Programmed to corrupt and kill
Cyberface
No escape
He is interfaced to Hell
Once he's summoned and installed - Cyberface
He'll infest your motherboard - Cyberface
Now he's got a grip
He will strip away your flesh
Alive yet dead
A fiend obsessed
He'll crash your system down
Once in place
He'll simulate
Your life - it's worthless now
God forsaken
Grotesque mind
An entity
That's come alive
Boot your screen
And suddenly
Approaching fast and mean
Once he's summoned and installed - Cyberface
He'll infest your motherboard - Cyberface
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