ROB HALFORD WITH FAMILY AND FRIENDS – Celestial

Rob Halford states “You must have music at Christmas time.”  His Christmas album contains four new tracks and eight reworks of traditional songs.  “The great thing about Heavy Metal is it’s got these kinds of multiple dimensions…what we’ve tried to do with this music is to reach out to as many of those Metal dimensions as we possibly can.”

Of the original tracks, “Donner and Blitzen” is the only stand out. It’s heavy, but laid back, and could easily be confused for a Judas Priest song were it not for the lyrical content.  “Celestial” is opening fluff, “Protected By The Light” is an accordion backed ditty, and “Morning Star” sounds like Halford’s audition tape to join the Eagles.

The album shines when Halford brings a Metal dimension to well-worn carols.  “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen” maintains only a tenuous link to the 16th century melody.  It opens thunderously and stays refreshingly heavy throughout.  “Away In A Manger” features a swirling mixture of spectral acoustic and electric guitar riffs that set up a vast audio landscape.  It’s far removed from the 19th century original and much closer to a mix of Queensrÿche’s “Silent Lucidity” and Judas Priest’s “Desert Plains”.

The heaviest renditions are “Deck The Halls” and “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing.” The former is hyper-heavy and has the most knuckle dragging delivery of “Fa la la la la, la la la la” imaginable.  The latter has a guitar tone and delivery hearkening to “Losers And Winners” from Accept’s Balls To The Wall.

Halford states he wanted Celestial to cover a broad platform and be different than a regular Rock n’ Roll Christmas album.  He ended up covering a broad range, but the Metal original and covers are the highlights. Keep the heaviest songs queued up as an emergency palate cleanser for when you get trapped listening to traditional carols for too long.

TUNE INTO METALEXPRESSRADIO.COM at NOON & MIDNIGHT (EST) / 6:00 & 18:00 (CET) TO HEAR THE BEST TRACKS FROM THIS UPCOMING RELEASE!!!

TRACKLIST (Highlights: 2, 3, 4, 6, 9)

1. Celestial [new song]
2. Donner and Blitzen [new song]
3. God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen
4. Away In A Manger
5. Morning Star [new song]
6. Deck The Halls
7. Joy To The World
8. O Little Town Of Bethlehem
9. Hark! The Herald Angels Sing
10. The First Noel
11. Good King Wenceslas
12. Protected By The Light [new song]