Judas Priest probably won't release the follow-up to their 2018 album Firepower this year.
In an interview with Metal Express Radio, Judas Priest vocalist Rob Halford said all the music for the album is done and they're just waiting on him to record his parts. Halford also mentioned he hopes Judas Priest will still tour with Ozzy Osbourne in May of this year, which Osbourne didn't sound too confident about in late 2022.
"As I've been saying in these recent Zooms [interviews], they're all waiting for me, because all the music is done," said Halford. "I've got the album here in front of me, on my laptop, and it sounds fucking amazing, which you expect every musician to say. But I've really gotta do my work now and make sure that what I do relates to the great work that the guys have done.
"So, it's coming together. It'll be ready when it's ready. But we're trying to stick on a timeline. We're hoping to do this Ozzy tour [of Europe in May]. Please, Ozzy, be well enough; I think he will be. Once we do the Ozzy tour, then we're gonna really get into the back end of finishing the record and then probably being ready to release that. I'm saying now… I did say '23. It looks like it's '24 — which isn't that far away. It's already almost February in 2023.
"I think if you look back at all the work that we've done — apart from that time in the '80s when we were making an album and a world tour literally year in and year out for three or four years… You can do that when you're in that mindset at that point in your life and in the band when things are just roaring. This far on, when you've done so much work and you are aware of what you've achieved, then I think naturally you take your time more."
When asked how the new album sounds, Halford said it's completely independent of every other album and added "It's great. It's a really good album, and I know our fans are gonna love it." And given the sheer kickass metal found on Firepower, it seems safe to assume the new Judas Priest album will rule.
