Having gone through the whole lengthy ordeal of enduring Judas Priest without Rob Halford, fans know it could never get worse for the band than that. Still, though, when Priest brought in hired gun Richie Faulkner to replace the retired K.K. Downing on guitar, again there was plenty of trepidation. After all, Downing and Glenn Tipton had formed the foundation of Judas Priest’s albums from day one, the most famous guitar duo heavy metal has ever known. They’re true pioneers in the field, and the sentimental attachment longtime fans have with Judas Priest’s music has a lot to do with the songwriting contributions, the riffs, the solos Downing had contributed for nearly 40 years. Seeing that partnership with Tipton gone, that core they formed with Halford and Ian Hill no longer a reality, is a huge mental hurdle to get over, and the knowledge that one key cog is gone would indeed loom over anything the band would ever record since.

However, the band did a very smart thing when it took on Faulkner to fill Downing’s role. Everyone took things slow, the band gradually introducing Faulkner to the Priest audience on its career-spanning Epitaph tour in 2011. It’s indeed a strange fit for a band having a new member who’s half the age of three of his bandmates, but the London-born Faulkner does have a good background and strong stage presence, and the chemistry between everyone involved was there from the get-go. And besides, if recent history has taught the music business anything, aging baby boomer artists do benefit immensely from bringing on younger musicians into their bands.

Over the course of that tour and the subsequent Epitaph DVD release, Faulkner did settle into that role on stage right more naturally than some skeptics thought, and even more promising was the band’s commitment towards writing and recording a 17^th studio album, its third since Halford’s 2004 return. Produced by Mike Exeter, best known for his work on Black Sabbath’s 2013 comeback album 13, Redeemer Of Souls is extraordinary. In fact, the band hasn’t sounded this energized since Painkiller 24 long years ago.

Central to this album’s success is the fact that Halford and Tipton acknowledged that it’s best for them to avoid ambition and experimentation, which bogged down Nostradamus six years earlier, and simply have Judas Priest sounding like Judas Priest once again, doing what it does best. Which means the entire album is rife with stately thudding and galloping heavy metal anthems, awash in glorious Halfordspeak, singing of Metalizers, Dragonauts, Vikings, flames, and of course, redeemers of souls, whatever that is. It’s a wonderful welcome to Priest’s classic sounds of the past: the intensity of Painkiller surfaces time and again, the sleek, steely guitar tone echoes 1984’s Defenders Of The Faith is undeniable, and the more melodic moments recall 1982’s Screaming For Vengeance. “Dragonaut,” “Halls Of Valhalla,” “Metalizer,” “Battle Cry,” and the splendid “Sword Of Damocles” are all Judas Priest at its most rampaging and bracing, Scott Travis’s thunderous drumming matching Halford’s vocal authority step for step. The galloping title track and the martial “March Of The Damned” are more measured in their approach, very much in the vein of German power metal bands Primal Fear and Gamma Ray, and schooling everyone in the process. Meanwhile, “Cold Blooded” is a spirited return to the deep cuts of 1982-’84, while Faulkner’s influence can be heard most on “Crossfire,” as the band explores its blues-influenced side for the first time since Rocka Rolla.

Interspersed with several slower songs to serve as mellow respites from all the intensity and bombast — the best being the closer “Beginning Of The End” — Redeemer Of Souls treads very familiar territory, but feels vibrant rather than complacent. Even the five bonus tracks that comprise the “deluxe edition” are a joy unto themselves, whimsical returns to the pop-oriented sounds of Point Of Entry and British Steel, incessant little songs that feel a lot more than mere throwaways. When all’s said and done, it might not be a classic, but it’s Priest’s most consistent, joyous album in 24 years, a reminder of this band’s inimitable appeal, and a return to the upper echelon of heavy metal where the band so rightfully belongs.