Crucible

Crucible covers various styles, with Rob taking a few steps forward in time as well as several steps back, some of them way back. The punchy Roy Z production is still there but several of the songs head in a more modern direction, with some ironically ploughing the same furrow as the post-Halford Priest albums. There are a few mid-period Priest style romps, all retro-riffs and fluid melodic solos, and some simply ridiculous double-bass work from Bobby Jarzombek .One annoying thing is the number of different versions of this album that are available, but all in all Crucible is a strong album whose variety will be seen as welcome by some but will not threaten the majesty of ‘Resurrection’ in the eyes of others. – Phil Ashcroft