Judas Priest’s Rob Halford Says New Album Will Be ‘Hard + Heavy’

Hard. Heavy. Those are two words you undoubtedly want to hear in discussions about a new Judas Priest album. Frontman Rob Halford shared some details about the new album -- their seventeenth -- rather candidly in a recent interview with Billboard. But he could only go so far with revealing information in order to avoid bodily harm.

This new record will follow 'Nostradamus,' the band's 2008-released concept album. Halford said the music is "hard. It's heavy. It's something we think our Priest fans will be thrilled with. We know we have a reputation to maintain, and we know we have to deliver something really strong and solid. The album is going to be full of all the great things you love about Judas Priest -- I don't think I can say anything more than that without being hung, drawn and quartered."

That's all metal fans need. Hard and heavy is a terrific start. We don't want Halford's bandmates to give him a dressing down for giving up too much information, but this is certainly good news. It's also great to see that the band is still concerned about quality control.

The new album will be a bit of a bittersweet moment, as it's the first album to be recorded without guitarist K.K. Downing, who retired after his work on 'Nostradamus.' Halford also said that the album should be done by the time their appearance at Rock 'n' Roll Fantasy Camp wraps in Las Vegas next March.

As for what phase of the process Priest are in, Halford said, "The writing process is complete," suggesting that was the easy part. The hard part is getting every nuance of sound on record.

He continued, "Now it's the painstaking work of making sure that you get every single note, every single nuance of the vocal, every tiny aspect...right. We're still tracking (instruments). It's just a very laborious but enjoyable part of making the record."

While the band plans to self-produce the release, that could change with time, as the frontman admitted, "There's always a possibility somebody might come in to overview some of the things we're doing."

Despite embarking on their Epitaph World Tour previously, Priest plan to support the album live, but not as extensively as they have. There will also be some sort of celebration to mark the 40th anniversary of the band's debut 'Rocka Rolla.'

"We'll be working furiously and manically in the studio cellars and conjuring up some special moments for next year, I'm sure of that," Halford said.