WINNIPEG - Any doubts Judas Priest have lost their status as metal gods were put to rest last night.

The reunited British legends returned to Winnipeg for the first time in 15 years in what amounted to a classic rock show for 6,000 metalheads at the MTS Centre.

More than 30 years after forming, the influential group still sound exactly like they did in their late 1970s/early 1980s prime and, fittingly, most of the set was drawn from that era.

Besides influencing the next generations of metal bands with their twin-guitar attack, they were also on the ground floor when arena concerts became spectacles, and nothing has changed in that regard -- from their setlist to their stage to their impossibly tight leather outfits. It's like time has stood still for the group.

Not that the crowd was complaining.

With lead vocalist Rob Halford back in the band after 13 years apart, the career retrospective was as comforting for fans as their own well-worn leather jackets.

The show started with the one-two punch of The Hellion and Electric Eye, which kicked off the 1982 Screaming For Vengeance album. Initially Halford was nowhere to be seen but soon emerged from behind drummer Scott Travis in the centre of a giant eye, wearing a studded leather trench coat.

If there were any questions about whether the 54-year-old Halford couldn't hit the high notes like he used to they were quickly answered during the third song, Riding on the Wind, when his spine-chilling air-raid wail reverberated off every corner of the arena. He was in exceptional form all night.

While Halford roamed the two platforms flanking his bandmates, guitarists K.K. Downing and Glenn Tipton took centre stage to trade off lightning fast intricate guitar solos or shared rhythmic duties, while bassist Ian Hill stood banging his head at the back.

Even the songs from the new Angel of Retribution album sounded like they could have been recorded any time before 1985, so songs like Judas Rising and Worth Fighting For didn't sound out of place, even if they didn't pack the emotional wallop of songs like Breaking the Law or Victim of Changes, the oldest song in the setlist.

They slowed things down halfway through the planned 100-minute set with the un-ironic cover of Joan Baez's Diamonds and Rust and Beyond the Realms of Death before a synth-less version of Turbo Lover.

At press time the band was playing another new song, Hellrider, with Living After Midnight and You've Got Another Thing Coming planned for the encore.

The night of nostalgia started during the hour-long opening set by another reunited group, Anthrax, performing songs exclusively from their peak years of 1985 to 1991.

With Among the Living-era vocalist Joey Belladonna and guitarist Danny Spitz back in the fold, the New York thrash quintet tore through an hour of high-speed mayhem from their glory days, highlighted by Caught in a Mosh, Indians, Medusa and I Am the Law.