Hardcore fans of the band may not know what to make of this. Is it another epic fail like Turbo or Ram It Down, something removed from their accepted style? Or is it a bold move in a new direction? On the plus side, JP's musicianship shows their professionalism. The band is sold and tight, and the twin guitars of K.K. Downing and Glenn Tipton retain their clean, liberating power. But there is less power on display on this album than one might expect from this band. Maybe they are mellowing a bit with age. Flutes? Keyboards? An orchestra? On a Judas Priest album? Surprise!

Of course, this is far from the first heavy metal offering with an occult slant, even for Judas Priest ("Dreamer Deceiver"). Most big-name metal acts, particularly Iron Maiden and Black Sabbath, have explored fantasy-based themes, but usually only on a song-by-unrelated-song basis. Here we have an entire album devoted to the legend of the 14th century prognosticator Nostradamus, allowing for plenty of lyrical and musical bombast and lots of discussion of death and destruction. Contemporary metal has moved away from fantasy riffs, but give JP credit for bucking the trend.

Unclear predictions, uneven album

Tipton and Downing bring some of the tunes, like "Prophecy," with its driving Sabbath-like riff, and the more melodic "Visions," fully to life. But with nearly two hours of material to cover, Priest starts to run out of ideas to develop.

Like most metal bands, they do a few things really well, but subtle they ain't. For all the brilliant moments here, like the ultra-heavy "Death," with its amazing lead guitar work, there's a lot of dross to slog through. Musically and lyrically, there's an overloading of bombast.

Here's a short sample from "Revelations," in which Nostradamus embraces his abilities to see the future: "I take this possession / And make it my obsession / Alive in illusion / To make sense from confusion." These lyrics do not exactly have poetic quality, and they're typically atrocious.

If JP hasn't exactly crossed the line into Spinal Tap territory here (think what a concept album of "Stonehenge" might have been like), they get uncomfortably close to it at times. Credit is due them for taking a devil of a risk and doing what they believe in. It's just that the execution doesn't live up to the conception.

Given the downbeat quality of much of the lyrical material here, they should have called this project "NostraDamnUs" instead of Nostradamus, but that might have demonstrated a primitive sense of humor. Can't have that among metal-heads.