Judas Priest Are Waiting on Rob Halford to Finish the Next Album
Influential British metal icons Judas Priest are getting closer and closer to a follow up to 2018’s Firepower, but they’re just waiting on vocalist and Plymouth Rock mascot Rob Halford to get in the booth and record his part.
During a recent interview with The Entertainment Outlet, transcribed by Blabbermouth, guitarist Richie Faulkner said a series of extenuating circumstances have slowed down the band’s recording progress over the last few years, but that all that was needed at this point was vocals.
“We’re getting there. We’ve been trying to get it done. The first obstacle was the pandemic, because we couldn’t get together and do it as a group. And then when the pandemic restrictions were lifted, then we could go out on tour. So the next obstacle, if you wanna call it that, was the tour. So we had to go out and tour and record bits and pieces in between the tour legs. So we’ve got drums done, we’ve got guitars done, we’ve got the bass done. I think the main thing we have to do now is vocals. So we’ve got the U.S. leg of the tour coming up, so Rob’s [Halford, vocals] gotta protect his voice and use his voice sparingly before that. So maybe after that. I mean, we’ve got [dates in] the U.S. and we’ve got South America, which takes us into December. So maybe in the New Year we can start working on vocals.”
With most of the work already laid down for the record, Faulkner described the new music as “really solid, really confident…but its not Firepower 2.”
“It’s its own thing. Some people might like that; some people might hate that. When you read the socials, people read comments like that and they know what the album sounds like straight away. I don’t know how they do that. But it’s all good. It means they’re invested in Priest and they’re invested in the new music. But as he said, it sounds confident, it’s sounding great and solid. It’s always good as well when you’ve got something like this and no one’s heard it. So you’re excited to release it to the world — you want the world to hear it, but they haven’t heard it yet. So it’ll be great for the world to hear it. They might hate it. But it’s still exciting.”
As for when fans can expect to hear new music, Faulkner said it was “tough to talk about timeframes” and that there’s “no point in rushing” the album out the door.
“It’s getting there — we’re working on it and it’s getting there. And we’re using the time we’ve got. These days as well, we don’t need 18 months in a 10,000-square-foot studio in Fiji to do a record. The way things are these days, we can do it in a lot more economical way. So we’re making technology work and we’re making all that work for us so we can get it done in the best way we can so we can get it out when we can. But it’ll be done when it’s done.”
As Faulkner mentioned in the interview, Judas Priest is heading out on tour next month. If you want to catch ’em before the new album cycle begins, check them out at the following dates:
October 13 in Wallingford, CT @ Toyota Oakdale
October 15th in Albany, NY @ MVP Arena
October 16 in Boston, MA @ MGM Music Hall Fenway
October 18 in Uniondale, NY at Nassau Veterans
October 19 in Wilkes-Barre, PA @ Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza
October 21 in Kalamazoo, MI at Wings Event Center
October 22 in Detroit, MI at Masonic Temple Theatre
October 24 in Cincinnati, OH @ The Andrew J Brady Music Center
October 25 in Waukegan, IL @ Genesee Theatre
October 27 in Green Bay, WI @ Resch Center Theater
October 29 in Moline, IL @ TaxSlayer Center Moline
October 30 in Mankato, MN @ Mayo Clinic Event Center
November 1 in Sioux City, IA @ Tyson Events Center
November 2 in Rapid City, SD @ The Monument
November 7 in Ontario, CA @ Toyota Center
November 8 in Tucson, AZ @ TCC Arena
November 10 in Loveland, CO @ Budweiser Events Center
November 12 in Park City (Wichita), KS @Hartman Arena
November 13 in St. Charles, MO @ The Family Arena
November 15 in Corbin, KY @ The Corbin Arena
November 17 in Southaven, MS @ Landers Center
November 18 in Baton Rouge, LA @ Raising Canes River Center
November 20 in Oklahoma City, OK @ Paycom Center
November 22 & 23 in San Antonio, TX @ Tech Port Center & Arena
November 25 in Dallas, TX @ The Factory in Deep Ellum
November 26 in Corpus Christi, TX @ Concrete Street
November 28 in Edinburg, TX @ Burt Ogden Arena
November 29 in Houston, TX @ 713 Music Hall
