iSound

Conceived in various American studios during the past 12 months, Crucible is the long-awaited studio follow-up to Halford's critically acclaimed 2000 debut album, Resurrection. The driving force behind Halford (the band) is, of course, Birmingham-born vocalist Rob Halford ­ a true living legend in the realms of hard rock and heavy metal. For more than two decades, Halford strode some of the planet's biggest stages with genre giants Judas Priest, before announcing to the world on Independence Day, 1992, that he was going to try something new. Appropriately, after issuing albums with Fight and Two, the vocalist then chose the Millennium year to return to his first true love ­ unadulterated, blitzkrieg heavy metal ­ with Halford and the Resurrection album. Critics and fans alike were quick to acclaim Resurrection as a true masterpiece. The UK's Classic Rock magazine called it: "Perhaps the greatest album Judas Priest never made", and they were far from alone in their praise...