Loud as fuck and arrogant as a cock in a nunnery, classic heavy metal has always belonged to the streets and has always been British. Its problems started when they stopped manufacturing it there. That happened a long time ago, but those who grew up with this crowning achievement of the Western culture still want it that way.

The bands that can deliver though are now very few in numbers. Let’s add the unpleasant fact that this is likely to be the last studio input from Glenn Tipton because of the breaking news of his Parkinson disease and it’s no wonder why this new PRIEST album is so viral now.

Is 'Firepower' that amazing? My short answer to this would be no. To me it’s not much different than its predecessor 'Redeemer of Souls' and I am not surprised that some of the material was written back then. 'Lightning Strike' for instance sounds a bit like the self-titled track from the previous record.

Even if we take out the similar choruses and the lookalike guitar solo shells that fly right after the choruses in both songs, calling this approach formulaic is like calling trees wooden. 'Children of the Sun' starts and ends like a mix of 'March of the Damned' and 'Secrets of the Dead', although the slow part in the middle saves it from being a sheer simulation.