Epitaph [DVD] [2013]

Bloody great!! Excellent footage and sound. Recommmened.

When the Judas Priest Epitaph tour was announced, I was like a lot of other fans and were absolutely shocked when they announced the departure of their original founding member K.K. Downing. I (and many others) wondered just how the band can continue with an announcement like that. This shocking news came only four or five months before our local Glasgow show. Because of the news, I was very hesitant to buy tickets and sadly, I didn't. It was something I have regretted, simply because the band acquired Richie Faulkner, a stupidly talented guitarist who steals the show on this here bluray. A film that I bought to make up for my own stupidity.Judas Priest Epitaph is a full two hour and twenty minute concert recorded on the band's supposedly farewell tour at the legendary Hammersmith Apollo, London on May 26th, 2012. It features twenty one classic Judas Priest songs including some nice rarities like Starbreaker, Never Satisfied and Blood Red Skies. The concert was released into the cinemas with screenings in New York, London and later across the entire world. A couple of weeks later, the product we see before us was released.The Epitaph concert is certainly one I would recommend for fans of the band. The group sound like they're trying to prove something. Possibly trying to say that they don't need to worry about the fact K.K. Downing had just left. They come out to Rapid Fire with great energy and a thunderous sound. It's quite a fantastic performance with very little actually going wrong. The then new guy Richie Faulkner is mighty impressive as he does his thing. He's certainly a great guitarist and one us fans could certainly look up to. He holds his own when compared to his predecessor.With that said, I do feel that there were a couple of occasions where the band did feel a bit sloppy. The Sentinel for example, it feels a bit slow. The tempo is off by enough that it appears Rob Halford actually struggles to sing the lyrics in the correct rhythm, as an example. I am going to assume that this is simply down to the lack of rehearsal. I'm basing this on the fact that they were much better than this on the Redeemer of Souls tour. Talking of Rob, there are a few moments where he really struggles to hit those high notes. I honestly can't blame him and it's moments like these where I wonder why they even have Painkiller in the set, as awesome as it is.With that out the way, there really isn't much else to nit pick about this bluray. The stage set is pretty cool with it's laser show and good use of pyrotechnics. The sound production is very heavy and compliments the bands music perfectly. If you've seen the band live, you'll remember the horror of the first time you feel Scott Travis' bass drum pound your chest. You'll also, be happy to know that he still sounds as powerful here... just without the intense chest compression.When it comes to the bands video catalogue, there's only this and Battle Cry on bluray (at the time of writing). I would say that the latter is a better performance. It's shorter, tighter and more precise. Epitaph makes up for it by having a considerably longer set list and bigger stage show. It's worth having for fans of the band for sure. In fact, I would highly recommend them both. Great performance, great sound, great video. How can you go wrong?!

....but it hasn't stopped three 'customers' from giving five star reviews, so either they're all psychics who have supernatural insight into the picture and sound quality, or their reviews are totally pointless.That being said, if reviews are allowed on Blu-Rays/DVDs which nobody has seen, I'm writing one myself, and I'm giving one star because the video quality is non-existent (can't see a thing until I get a disc to put in the player), as is the sound quality (can't hear a thing either).I suppose I could comment on the actual concert but I never saw that either.Edit: Acquired the Blu-Ray within a few days of it's release and it's a cracker.Sound quality isn't five star when compared to the very best in terms of separation and resolution, but this is metal so the emphasis is on power, energy and impact which are here in spades.Picture quality is excellent and obviously the full Blu-Ray 1080p spec, when so many Blu-Rays are barely distinguishable from DVD.Just the one star dropped for sound quality then, but this video was meant to be cranked up to volumes which would have the speakers of most TVs or home theatre systems distorting anyway.

If ever there was a band that has a stunning cannon of musical genius, then Judas Priest must be it, because lets be honest here, they are not successful for their image and looks. And that's the problem with Priest Live DVD's.Now, don't get me wrong, I love everything that they have done and no other band comes even close to defining heavy metal as much as Judas Priest. They practically invented it in the modern sense and even adding Sabbath and latterly Maiden, Priest still stands out as the musical definition of metal music.And this live concert carries that flame high. Thudding guitars, soaring vocals(mostly) and a back catalogue of utter, utter classics that cannot help but get anyone with a hint of heavy metal in their blood giving it large. But, few could really argue that visually there are some dodgey moments and this concert is no exception.So the good and the bad.The good news is that musically they still manage to pull it off with aplomb. Their envious collection of metal brilliance is delved into and there isn't a duff song on the setlist. All work together fantastically and to be honest it's the best heavy rock music I've heard for a long time. I've been a Priest fan since the days of Stained Class and even after a million years they sound fresh and relevant. Most new bands playing in this genre would be lucky to come up with 1/10th of what Priest have created. For guys that have been doing this for decades it's quite astonishing that the passion and talent is still there. They have also not forgotten what their paying fans want. They have not dumped their greatest and most well known songs for some esoteric arty thing unlike some bands - you know who they are...However they also keep things fresh by adding songs from throughout their history such as Battle Hymn, Starbreaker and Diamonds and Rust.There are a couple of wobbles and on the first track, Battle Hymns, the new guitarist, Richie Faulkner seemed to be doing his own thing a bit. Fortunately he tightened up more as the concert went on. Rob Halford still has great range and power, but my imagination may be incorrect, but I think he's not quite hitting the high notes as he used too.Overall though the musical performance is top class.Now for the less good. They do look a bit like a parody now. Rob Halford looks like a cross between Big Daddy and a Pearly King or Queen. He stomps around the place like a man in some pain and seems to spend a lot of time bent over screaming into the mike as if he were inflating a paddling pool. Ian Hill looks more and more like the embarrassing uncle - but then he always did, really. Tipton could be out of Dad's Army and it's about time the red leather trousers were pensioned off because they are hanging off his skinny arse. All of this is made more obvious by the rock star youth of Faulkner.But the biggest thing is the lack of KK. Now don't get me wrong. I suspect that Faulkner is probably technically way superior to both KK and Tipton. He has the benefit of growing up in a time when guitar gods were born and the technicalities are there for all to see. His fingers are a blur and his showmanship impressive. But - it's still not KK Downing. When KK and Tipton are together there is a sort of seamlessness about the whole thing. Sometimes it's really hard to work out who is who. With Faulkner it's dead easy. Close your eyes and he's the guy who sounds like one of Ozzy Osbourne's lead guitar slingers.However, despite the flaws, the music is still Metal God like and, few if any, can do heavy metal as good as Priest. Given the absolute belter of a setlist I have to give this five stars. I'd give it 6 if KK was there, though.