So it seems the Epitaph World Tour will not be the end of Judas Priest. According to lead-singer Rob Halford, the band has been generating material for a new album. In a recent interview with Ultimate Classic Rock, Halford describes some of the ideas that have flowed into the creative process:
Glenn (Tipton, guitar) and I started to write in the early part of January this year. We just went to it from the heart really, there was no specific agenda or idea, as opposed to what we had to do with Nostradamus, which was very focused and a real anchor of a project. This one has just been some straight-forward, classic British heavy metal. Some of it feels a bit like Painkiller, some of it feels like Sad Wings Of Destiny, some like British Steel. We didn't do much research, we didn't bother checking some of our previous releases, we didn't do any homework, we just sat down and played, you know? Glenn came up with riffs and I came up with vocal melodies. There was no outside influence or interference in the writing sessions. We just started the day, plugged in some amps, got the mic up and made the metal that way. It's a very pure record, in that respect.
Sounds good to me! Honestly, even if the record sounds derivative of their back-catalog, I think most Priest fans will enjoy it anyway. In the interview, Halford goes on to talk about Judas Priest’s recent appearance on American Idol, their celebration of the legendary British Steel record, and the challenges of playing live while wearing the heavy biker jackets.
On the future of the band, I found Halford’s words very interesting:
It’s a good time to reflect, celebrate, to think about all of your Priest memories. And hopefully, to think about the future, because this is NOT the end of Priest, we will still be working. We’ll be doing limited live shows, but the recorded side of what we do will stay strong.
So by “limited touring” I hope he means that Judas Priest will still play shows in major markets…and by major markets I mean the NYC area…and by that I mean I hope to finally see them after foolishly missing them so many times…like last weekend. (…God Dammit!)
Anyway, the American portion of the tour will finish in early December before the bands sets off for Asia in February. For more information, visit Judas Priest’s official website.
And check out some of the footage from Judas Priest’s show in San Antonio back in October!
