Judas Priest fans expecting former lead singer
Rob Halford to unleash a new extreme-metal band (like his post-
Priest project
Fight) will be disappointed with his new outfit,
Two. Although
Two does inherit some of
Priest's metal riffs and overall power, this is an almost completely electronic affair.
Halford's vocals are still unmistakable, but there's less high-pitched shrieking (i.e., the
Priest album Painkiller) and more of the singing/talking/screaming style that the techno genre demands. Two also tackle
Tool's demented alternative, evidenced in the near progressive track "Stutter Kiss" (with elements of latter-day
David Bowie added as well). The overtly melodic "Water's Leaking" is musical territory that
Judas Priest would never have permitted
Halford to explore, yet "Leave Me Alone" sounds an awful lot like electro-
Priest. Although many techno fans will automatically see the album's opening "I Am a Pig" and think of
Nine Inch Nails' Downward Spiral (which included the titles "Piggy" and "March of the Pigs"),
Two's debut Voyeurs is a much more straightforward album. ~ Greg Prato