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This is the fourth album for Halford, in which Rob steps out from Judas Priest's shadow and makes solid Heavy Metal. Having listened to his main band's most recent output Nostradamus, I have to say that Made of Metal is a much better release by leaps and bounds. The reason is simple; the man returns to his roots and makes his most metallic release since Resurrection. Granted, it wasn't much of a challenge but it is an improvement from what he has been doing during the past decade. Obviously, this isn't a concept album based on some phony prophecies or anything like that; it is just a solid and dependable record.

Made of Metal is much closer to the aforementioned Resurrection than Crucible; the band keeps cranking out solid metal tunes with some very good ones. There are few effects to speak of (vocally or otherwise) and everything will be familiar to the longtime Halford fan. The records starts out with what I clearly consider to be the best song here in "Undisputed", it has the sound that I was craving for from him. As I said before it is a tired and true formula but in this case, it is a necessity rather than a luxury. Hell, even some of his compositions are very similar to what he did ten years ago, such as in "25 Years" (similar to "Silent Screams").

I like Rob Halford's voice here, it is amazing that a man almost sixty years old can sing so well. Since I wasn't expecting a Painkiller-type performance I enjoyed his vocals, much more than I would have otherwise. The rest of the lineup shines as well, starting with their pair of guitarists Roy Z and Metal Mike Chlasciak, they deliver riffs and solos that are melodic in nature and know when to speed up or slow down. The rhythm section doesn't disappoint either, Mike Davis (bass) and Bobby Jamzorbek (drums) provide the necessary backbone to the songs so they don't sound flat and emotionless. As a band, this group has been together since 2003 and it shows.

The album is not perfect; being just over an hour long I felt like it was ten minutes or so longer than it should have been. Because of this, there are fillers like "The Mower", Till' the Day I Die" and the title track. Some people might feel that the collection of songs here are Judas Priest rejects, and to a point I agree with that. At least Halford copied the 80's Priest and not the crap that his main band released during the past 15 years or so. Clearly, this is aimed at people who enjoy or worship classic Priest and there is nothing wrong with that.