Judas Priest: “Metal Gods” live in Memphis 1982 – from the film “Live Vengeance '82”

On 12 December 1982, Judas Priest’s world tour for the album “Screaming for Vengeance” stopped at the Mid-South Coliseum in Memphis, Tennessee – and the cameras were rolling. Directed by Mick Anger, the show became the concert film “Live Vengeance '82”, the source of this official video. “Metal Gods” is the fourth song of the night, right after the opening run of “The Hellion/Electric Eye”, “Riding on the Wind” and “Heading Out to the Highway”.

The line-up was the classic early-eighties one: Rob Halford (vocals), K. K. Downing and Glenn Tipton (guitars), Ian Hill (bass) and Dave Holland (drums), who had joined in 1979. “Metal Gods” comes from “British Steel”, released in April 1980 and recorded that February at Ringo Starr’s estate Tittenhurst Park near Ascot. The lyrics tell of robots rising up against humanity. With no samples available, the band created the marching-machine sound with a drawer full of cutlery – in Tipton’s words, “trial and error, but worth it in the end”.

The song left its mark beyond the music: “Metal God” became Rob Halford’s nickname, and in 2009 he trademarked the phrase. The Memphis recording first came out on VHS in 1983 as “Judas Priest Live”. It resurfaced as a DVD in the 2004 box set “Metalogy”, followed in 2006 by the standalone DVD “Live Vengeance '82” with a new 5.1 mix – including “Diamonds and Rust” and “The Green Manalishi”, which were missing from the original video release.