For a brief period of time during the early to mid-'90s, it seemed like Rob Halford would be set to carry on in his metallic path with Fight for the foreseeable future. His first band after leaving Judas Priest in 1991, Fight continued in the 100-percent pure metal direction of the final Halford/Priest album, 1990s Painkiller, with a healthy dose of Pantera's power metal thrown in for good measure. However, Fight only mustered a total of three releases during their tenure together (one of which was a half live/half remix set) -- 1993's War of Words, 1994's Mutations, and 1995's A Small Deadly Space -- before splitting up. With these albums out of print by the early 21st century (and Halford's spotlight heightened by rejoining Priest around this time), it was only a matter of time until Fight's trio of releases was remastered and/or reissued. And in 2008, Fight got the box set treatment, with the three CD/one DVD set, Into the Pit. All three of the aforementioned discs are included here, and they sound as viciously metallic as they did during the first go 'round. But it's the DVD that will probably convince most Halford-holics to take the plunge with this set, as it contains a live concert, as well as a healthy helping of various footage circa this era. Overall, Into the Pit is a pretty darn impressively assembled package.
© Greg Prato /TiVo