Ouch ! Yet another case of Judas Priest worship from Sweden, but extremely successful and pleasing, this time around (unlike the rather formulaic and shiny sounding Ambush..). To me, the best Heavy Metal is (to quote a famous Moody Blues title) "a question of balance", and these guys nailed it with their thick, muscular production and varied songwriting that alternates between "anthemic" and "nasty" with an opportune sense of eclectism (AKA several shades of Heavy Metal, all great). The double bass drums attack on opener "Return of the Iron Tyrant" almost gives it a Slayer ("South of Heaven" era) edge, and songs like the addictive "The Usurper" and "The Omega Device" should be "top of the charts" hit singles in a parallel/ideal world where the singles would be the best, most hard-hitting songs on an album. And the vocalist never overdoes it in the screech and squeal department, hitting just the right shade of passionate without ever sounding "grand guignol"-theatrical or parodic. In all, a substantial and generous album that will still reveal its subtleties several years down the road.. and somehow I can't shake off the impression that, had they been around in 1985, these guys would have been bigger than Accept (or any of those major league, major label European HM bands).