Halford – III: Winter Songs (Metal God Entertainment)
Sunday, 17th March 2013
A most un-metal of holidays, Christmas is getting the album treatment from Rob Halford and that’s fine – it sure beats listening to Nostradamus. Don’t ask us why (perhaps it’s the egg nogg), but the Metal God has managed to create something more enjoyable than the last real Halford album, which was 2002’s Crucible. It’s the holidays – let’s be merry, eh?
Anyway, aside from metal-ized interpretations of traditional Christmas numbers like “We Three Kings” (which is awesome, mind you), “Oh Holy Night” and “Come Ye All Faithful” (amongst others), Halford and his band roll out five newly-penned selections. The first that comes to mind is lead single “Get Into the Spirit,” a crunchy, rafter-reaching number that is perhaps the most metal Christmas song
since King Diamond’s legendary “No Presents For Christmas.”
The ballad “Winter Song” is the album centerpiece, out-dueling the last two or three Priest ballads. “Christmas For Everyone” is fun and peppy, while “Light of the World” showcases the considerable talents of guitarists Roy Z and Mike Chlasciak, along with all-world drummer Bobby Jarzombek.
This all came together very nicely for Halford. The man is ahead of the gameonce again and don’t be surprised if the rest of his legacy metal brethren follow suit. We can see it now: Operation: Christmas Time from Queensryche. That being said (sorry ‘Ryche), III: Winter Songs is far and away the best choice for metal-oriented holiday music. It almost makes one want to decorate thehouse
. Almost.
(This content originally appeared on Blistering.com)
