Judas Priest say they have “an enormous amount of material” for next album

Frank Schwichtenberg, CC BY-SA 4.0 , via Wikimedia Commons
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This year marks the 50th anniversary of Judas Priest’s founding, and for a band that’s been rocking for five decades, they seem to be in excellent shape. Just two years ago, they released their outstanding album Firepower, and now it appears they’ve got a lot more music where that came from. In an interview with Metal Hammer, the band reveals that they have plenty in the tank for another new album.

“We started the year prepping the next Judas Priest metal masterpiece,” Rob Halford tells Metal Hammer. “We had one massive writing session together and we’ve got an enormous amount of material stacked up, which is really thrilling after the glorious response we had to Firepower.”

In the interview, they also state that longtime guitarist Glenn Tipton—who ceased touring with the band in 2018, after living with Parkinson’s for 10 years—has been instrumental in writing the material for the next album.

“His mind’s still sharp and his ideas are still sharp,” says guitarist Richie Faulkner. “I’ll tell you what, man, I might have a riff or a part or a section and I don’t know what it is, but it lacks something. Glenn will say, ‘Try this’ and I’ll think, ‘That’s not gonna work. You’re out of your mind…’ and then I’ll try it and see that it’s the exact turnaround or riff or part that it needed to make it Judas Priest.”

In September, Judas Priest announced their plans for a 50th anniversary tour in 2021, which for now are slated to kick off in the U.S. next fall. Former Sabbat and Hell guitarist Andy Sneap, who toured with the band on their Firepower dates in 2018, is once again slated to fill in for Tipton during next year’s tour dates. With any luck, the band’s nineteenth album won’t be too far behind.

In the meantime, revisit their 2018 album, Firepower.