‘The Ballad Of Judas Priest’ review: how the heavy metal legends were forged

What’s a band without a gushing celeb fan endorsement? Well, this heavy metal doc has a killer opening from Hollywood mainstay and Judas Priest megafan Jack Black – a man who knows his rock from his roll. The School of Rock star kicks The Ballad Of Judas Priest off by reading aloud the lyrics to Priest classic ‘You’ve Got Another Thing Comin’’ straight to the camera. It’s a high-voltage intro: funny, cool and energetic, setting the tone for this music film that profiles the group who helped establish their riff-tastic genre alongside Black Sabbath in the 1970s.

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Featuring new and archive interviews with all Priest’s key members past and present, Ballad may not push the boundaries of the band documentary but it’s full of good-humoured and lively talking heads paying tribute to the Black Country breakout stars. The film covers all of Priest’s big career highlights and has genuine credibility due to its depth and access.

There are plenty of fine details to the account, such as a trip with bassist Ian Hill to Essington Working Men’s Club in Wolverhampton where the band did their first gig more than five decades ago or the marvellous quote: “When you go to school past factories that made hand grenades… that’s why our music tended to be heavier.”

Canadian co-director Sam Dunn has previously made films about Iron Maiden and ZZ Top while moshers will know fellow co-director Tom Morello as Rage Against The Machine’s punk firebrand. We see the late, great Ozzy Osbourne looking decidedly unwell from Parkinson’s but praising Priest and lead vocalist Rob Halford’s ability as a frontman, while the likes of Dave Grohl, Billy Corgan, and Metallica’s Kirk Hammett dig into what makes Priest so great.

Halford provides many of the film’s most poignant moments by discussing his experience as a closeted gay man while Priest were at the height of their powers in the 1980s, a struggle that led to alcoholism and drug addiction. There’s also a look at MTV’s importance in getting the band into the homes and hearts of middle America with bangers like 1980 hit ‘Breaking The Law’.

Aside from the music, Priest passionately explore their working-class origins and Morello steps in front of the camera to talk about being the only Black kid in suburban Chicago to be seen at Priest gigs. It’s not all uplifting tales of inclusion though. The doc also gets into the bizarre and harrowing 1990 Nevada court case where Priest were accused of inserting a subliminal message into their cover of Spooky Tooth’s ‘Better By You, Better Than Me’ that allegedly caused a young man’s death by suicide. It felt like rock music as a whole was on trial but the case was eventually dismissed.

A lively, in-depth examination of the fascinating and important heavy metal icons, this Ballad is well worth listening to.