There are many songs from Judas Priest's discography that can be considered the very personification of the band. If we only pulled from Priest's first six records we'd have the band-defining jams "Hell Bent for Leather" (Killing Machine 1978), and three from British Steel (1980), "Breaking the Law," "Living After Midnight," and "Metal Gods." I am not looking to engage in what songs I've "left off" this short and very specific list–this is it. All four tracks are pure Priest in every sense. From "Hell Bent for Leather" loudly solidifying Priest's dedication to their leather, studs, and motorcycles for life as a lifestyle. It's a very direct edict about who Judas Priest was and is. This is also the case for "Breaking the Law," "Living After Midnight," and especially "Metal Gods." There is perhaps no other song in Priest's catalog that better symbolizes the band, and to a larger degree, vocalist Rob Halford better than "Metal Gods." The song-turned-metal-moniker has been attached to Halford for decades. In 2021, Halford filed and received a United States Patent and Trademark for the words "Metal God." Right on.
And listen, it's okay if we can't all agree the song "Metal Gods" is one of the greatest metal achievements by Judas Priest, because the members of the newly-formed supergroup Dukes/Lorenzo know "Metal Gods" rules. And to prove it they recorded a fiery cover of it.
Vocalist Rob Dukes (Exodus, Generation Kill, Fragile Mortals), got the honor of taking on Rob Halford's vocals. Dan Lorenzo (Hades, Vessel of Light, Cassius King) took on both K.K. and Glenn Tipton's guitars with Ron Lipnicki (Overkill, Hades, Vessel of Light, and Cassius King) on drums, and Jimmy Caltabellatta on bass. With a lineup like this the sonic result has to be crushing, which it is. A very solid third track from the upcoming compilation Bow to Your Masters III: Judas Priest. Preorders for the double LP gatefold vinyl are going on now, and will go up after November 6th over at Glory or Death Records Bandcamp page.
