Judas Priest continue to unveil tracks from their forthcoming album Invincible Shield ahead of its March 8th release date.
“The Serpent and the King” is the fourth single from the LP so far, and it’s another scalding ripper from the British metal legends.
Rob Halford’s falsetto vocals are front and center — yep, he can still hit that vaunted Painkiller register — and the guitar tone sounds like it’s scratching the speakers from the inside. Under the hood, the guitar work and riff arrangements are densely composed — enough for both thrash and prog heads to feast on.
Regarding the album’s musical direction, guitarist Richie Faulkner told Audio Ink Radio that Invincible Shield “is progressive in the sense that it’s not like verse-chorus-verse-chorus-solo-chorus-finish,” likening it to Priest’s ’70s output.
“It’s musical part-verse-musical part,” he added. “It might do a few twists and turns, musically. It veers from the path of it, a bit like ‘Sinner’ or ‘Tyrant’ or something like that. So, it’s a bit more ’70s Priest, which I welcome as a guitar player.”
Judas Priest will take the new material on the road this year for a worldwide tour, including a headlining US run in April and May (get tickets here).
Pre-order Invincible Shield on vinyl here. Stream the lyric video for “The Serpent and the King” below.
