Fans call them the "Metal Gods."

That should be good enough for history, but Judas Priest, one of the longest-lived and most recognizable heavy metal bands on the planet, isn't done. Well known for their flashy dual-lead guitar riffs and solos, and for vocalist Rob Halford's distinctive, multi-octave voice, the British genre-definers have just released an ambitious conceptual double album based on the life of -- this is so metal -- 16th-century French prophet Nostradamus.

The band's 16th studio recording is densely arranged with dramatic, Wagnerian string and synth interludes. "We're not the first heavy metal band to use orchestration and classical-sounding parts like this, but I think a lot of people don't realize that it's all done by Glenn [Tipton, Priest's guitarist] and I with synth-guitars and things like that," explains guitarist K.K. Downing.

Although the orchestral moments give the album a dark, theatrical feel, it is still undeniably Judas Priest; there are plenty of rapid-fire riffs that could have fit in on classic albums like "Painkiller" or "Defenders of the Faith," and when Halford's unmistakable voice makes its first appearance, screaming, "I am the darkness/Born out of light," it's downright sinister. One listen to "Nostradamus" makes it clear that Priest is one of the few bands capable of doing the controversial seer justice.

"We thought it would be more interesting and there would be more depth to the character if we wrote about a real person," explains Downing. "We thought about various historical figures, and we didn't want to write about a warmonger, like Hitler or Mussolini."

The recording has its straightforward rockers -- such is the staff of life for the black-T-shirt-wearing headbangers who revere Priest. The whole 23-song epic, though, takes time to digest. Cannily, the band will not play the whole album straight through on Thursday night during its appearance at the Metal Masters tour at Nissan Pavilion.

"We will play the whole album [live], but not yet," says Downing. "I think the whole thing would be a bit of a shock to some people, especially if they are expecting to hear something like 'British Steel.' It's always hard deciding what to play. You really just have to go by what reactions the songs get."

--Greg Re, Express (Aug. 2008)