The 'Metal God' is back for another crunching rendition of 'Power Metal', 'Halford' style. Surprisingly different form the refreshing 'Resurrection', as a darker atmosphere is felt on most tracks, which on-the-whole are faster and more punishing than those of its predecessor. This doesn't necessarily make for a better album, and I personally feel the pacing of the songs are too similar, and there's a lack of interesting arrangements. The guitar work is as strong as ever, but has a more modern edge than before and at times sounds too thrashy for my liking. Overall I find this release probably more consistent than 'Resurrection', as the second half did lose its way a little, but this album isn't as catchy by half, and lacks standout tracks to compete with the likes of 'Made in Hell', 'Resurrection' and 'Silent Screams'.

The intro 'Park Manor' builds from a barely audible rumbling, into a dark eerie, guitar driven piece, that cleverly merges into the title track. 'Crucible' is a driving plodder, brooding in nature, with menacing undertones, 'Halford' shows on this, the first full track that his vocals are as sharp as ever- checkout the closing lyrics 'Crucible, Crucible, Crucible, Crucible' very powerful. 'One Will' features more groove than any other track present, and as so, gets my pick of the disk, the rhythm reminds me of 'Voices from the war' by 'Motorhead' and is a guaranteed rocker that will get you moving, the instrumental break is also a tasty piece of work. Thoughts of classic 'Priest' are conjured up by the intro to 'Betrayal', a nasty, rapid fire (no pun intended) high octane number, with trademark high pitch vocal work from the master himself. Next up is the pounding 'Handing out Bullets', a rhythm driven blazer, with 'Bobby Jarzombek' really "taking no prisoner". 'Hearts of Darkness' is another punishing number, but with a more complex arrangement than most, built around an eastern undertone, feature a sweet mid vocal slow down, crunching riffs and clever vocal changes. The mystical sounding 'Crystal' follows on in similar fashion from 'Hearts of Darkness', and features some top vocals and mesmerising rhythm. The thrashy sounding 'Heretic' recalls 'Robs' early 90's with 'Fight', but isn't one of the most dynamic songs present. 'Golgotha' is a nasty churning number, with evil brooding vocals, foreboding atmosphere, and frenetic drumming. The "break neck speed" of 'Wrath of God' is just blistering, an absolute pounding speciality, reminiscent of 'Painkiller'. The grooving intro to 'Weaving Sorrow' is just delectable, the rest of the track unfortunately doesn't live up to this, but is still one of the strongest present. The less frenzied rocker 'Sun' is a superb mystical, winding track, slightly more experimental for 'Halford', but works very well. The closing 'Trail of Tears' is a building, doom laden plodder, well written, but a tad depressing, this however is made up by the exquisite chorus.

If you are lucky enough to get the bonus CD as I was, you can enjoy the two additional tracks. 'She' is a solid ballad, that has a certain 'Queensrÿche' feel to it. 'Fugitive' is another hard hitting rocker, which again has a slightly mystical sound, and in my opinion, should have been include as an album track. Overall a respectable follow-up to 'Resurrection', but not as memorable as I would have hoped for.