Review by Felix on January 31, 2026.

Priest's “Painkiller” from 1990 is a good album. It is really a good album, no doubt at all. I just have to say this to myself again and again. It is a good album, oh yes. I mean, look at all the super-positive reviews of a lot of very well-appreciated colleagues (no irony here!). “Painkiller” must be a good, no, an almost excellent album.

But come on, Judas Priest lost all their integrity at “turbo” speed in 1986. “Ram It Down” was almost embarrassing in its obvious effort to compensate for the commercial fall from grace. “Heavy metal, heavy metal, what do you want? We want heavy metal”. Ehm… yes… But the lyrics on “Painkiller” are not one bit better. “Here comes the metal meltdown, run for your lives… no one survives”. And who the hell is the “Leather Rebell”? Halford, when he sings “Wild Nights, Hot & Crazy Days”? We do not need to go into the details; the ridiculous artwork alone speaks volumes. Actually, they wanted to give Mr. Painkiller a sword in his left fist, but the guys from Manowar probably took it from him because they needed it for their own crappy pictures, see their famous works “Jesters of Metal” and “The Downfall of Steel”.

Perhaps you say now that these are all secondary theaters of war. But for me, authenticity is a high value. Nevertheless, you are right, at least to a certain extent. Of course, the music can make a difference. The band's attempt to reestablish itself as the epitome of heavy metal is musically okay. One finds “Night Crawler”, a song with an enormous inner strength. It does not focus on spectacular velocity or any other form of extreme articulation, but its coherence, its flow, and its catchy but not intrusive parts (especially the bridge and chorus) are impressive. Not to mention the subtle, ghostly note of the song. The antithesis to “Night Crawler” is the roaring, screaming, and slightly primitive title track. It is painfully obvious that Judas wants to draw the audience on its side right from the beginning. This means you can't leave out any clichés. Start with a blower, sing nonsens,e and don’t forget a word like “metal”, “evil”, or “killer” in the chorus. Yes, the surface of the title track shines more or less brightly, but there is a little lie in it, in my humble opinion.

In terms of the naturally absolutely professional production is surely already said and done. All objective requirements are met, and this means, among other things, that the flawless mix does not lead to a sterile sound. I cannot say much more with regard to the technical implementation. If a legend like Judas does not have the financial power to create a good sound, who then? Having said this, I get back to the songs which offer a mix of a few (very) strong tracks and some pieces that reflect nothing but mediocrity. The tough “Hell Patrol” sounds tortured and pretty boring, almost as if the band had already lost interest by the second song. On the other hand, there is a song like “A Touch of Evil” with a bone-dry, extremely heavy basic riff and some cool keyboards. “All Guns Blazing” shows that the five-piece is able to let off steam in a very competent manner, while “One Shot At Glory” is as useless as its intro “Battle Hymn” (f**k, chief clown DeMaio comes to my mind again). All in all, the sound journey takes 46 minutes, passing over several hills and through several valleys. And yes, it is more or less pure heavy metal with some speedy outbursts and some high-pitched screams of a lead vocalist in good form. Mission fulfilled. So yes, “Painkiller” is a good album. It is almost excellent! And I must never forget that! I just have to keep telling myself that. And it remains an eternal mystery to me why the band hardly played any songs from this monster of an album on their tour (with Annihilator and Pantera, by the way) for this really good work called "Painkiller", at least not in Offenbach, Germany, on February 18, 1991.

Rating: 7.3 out of 10

Review by Luka on June 20, 2001.

This album is so powerful and groundbreaking it can only be branded as a true heavy metal classic. This time Judas Priest aren’t out to fool anyone, after all the fame and pain and tragedy and lawsuit and musical experimentation, they’ve gotten hard and mean, and "Painkiller" is the result. This is a heavy, fast, razor-sharp, skull-crushing, ear-splitting, bone-crunching thrashterpiece!

Tipton and K.K’s awesome riffs have never been faster or heavier or this precise. The guitars roar furiously over the relentless precision and double bass pounding of the new drummer. The solos are more than plentiful, fast, complex, and absolutely amazing, the job divided among the two guitar legends. Halford’s love ‘em/hate ‘em ear-splitting screams could break glass.

The guys have nothing to hide, the production is crystal clear and the distorted riffs and wailing solos jump at you, going right for the throat. The title track is pure six minute thrash fury, never taking a break, filling in all the cracks with ripping solos, always enhanced with eerie feedback for more effect. Songs like "Hell Patrol", "Leather Rebel", and especially "A Touch of Evil" are more groove oriented and slightly slower than the rest, going for more heaviness. And the fast tracks that just rip your brains out like "All Guns Blazing" (with two of the best solos I’ve probably heard in my life! Tipton just burns the strings!), "Metal Meltdown" and the atmospheric "Night Crawler" don’t take a second off the relentless speed and fury. Every singly song is amazing and that’s what makes a great album!

Halford’s screams break the windows, the double bass rumble shakes the ground, the guitars tear town the walls as "Painkiller", going "faster than a laser bullet and louder than an atom bomb" shreds anything in it’s path! One of my favorite albums ever!

Bottom Line: Whoever said that you get mellower as you age needs this ruthless album’s heavy metal fury to rip their head off!! THIS ABSOLUTELY RULES!!!

Rating: 10 out of 10