by Gary Hill

The final album from Rob Halford's first post-Judas Priest band, Fight, A Small Deadly Space is definitely a strong one. The main course for the meal that Halford and the rest of the band (Brian Tilse, Jay Jay, Mark Chaussee, and Scott Travis) have served up is heavy metal. There is no real surprise there. However, there are actually quite a few moments that show off more progressive influences. You just have to give a cursory listen to "In a World of My Own Making" to spot them. The disc found Halford seeming like he was making a solid effort to not reproduce his Judas Priest sound. Indeed, the disc showed a Rob Halford who was staying more to the lower end of the register rather than screaming out in a Priest-ish display of vocal pyrotechnics. Overall, this is a great album, and certainly a nice bookend for the group's brief career.