Judas Priest vocalist Rob Halford is bringing the holidays to you all a little early this year. Halford will release a Christmas album titled Celestial on October 18, which will feature four new Halford songs and a handful of classic Christmas covers. You can stream one of the covers, "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing", below.
"The great thing about heavy metal is it's got these kinds of multiple dimensions. I think when you look at it from an outside point of view — if you're not really familiar with the metal scene — it can look pretty intimidating. And it is a very strong, powerful experience. But it comes at different levels. I think the music that we've made on 'Celestial', for example, gives a display of that. Metal maniacs — as we call ourselves — are just as ready for the holidays as everybody else. And what we've tried to do with this music is to reach out to as many of those metal dimensions as we possibly can."
Celestial features Halford's brother Nigel on drums; Alex, son of Judas Priest bassist Ian Hill, on bass; Halford's sister Sue on bells;and guitarists Robert Jones and Jon Blakey. Here's the tracklisting.
01. Celestial [new song]
02. Donner And Blitzen [new song]
03. God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen
04. Away In A Manger
05. Morning Star [new song]
06. Deck The Halls
07. Joy To The World
08. O Little Town Of Bethlehem
09. Hark! The Herald Angels Sing
10. The First Noel
11. Good King Wenceslas
12. Protected By The Light [new song]
