By Kelley Simms
U
.K. heavy metal legends Judas
Priest are celebrating their 40th
anniversary with their 17th
album, Redeemer Of Souls.
After 2008's overblown concept album,
Nostradamus, Priest has recorded their first
new material in six years and are enjoying a
musical rebirth. With the exception of Iron
Maiden, no other band defines the true
essence of British heavy metal like Priest
does. The announcement of original guitarist KK Downing’s retirement on the eve
of the then-named "farewell" Epitaph tour
would have been a deathblow to lesser bands,
but Priest forged on with new recruit Ritchie
Faulkner (ex-Lauren Harris). As you can
guess, that tour was not their farewell tour
as originally announced and Rob & Co. are
not ready to hang up the leathers just yet.
IE's Kelley Simms spoke to vocalist Rob
Halford at his Phoenix home just before he
and the band were headed to London for rehearsals for their ROS tour.
IE: Redeemer Of Souls marks your 40th
anniversary. What do you think has led
to the band's longevity?
Rob Halford: I think where I'm at now, I
realized one of the simplest things in life
is to just keep putting one foot in front of
the other. If you have to deal with all the
other extraneous stuff, there are many
times where you want to bail ship.
That's life. It shouldn't be a smooth journey. It should be a bit of a gale every
now and then. I think stormy weather is
great for the spirit and the soul. Priest
has had a lot of that over the 40 years.
There are very few bands on this planet
who have been together for last 40 years,
especially in metal. That's quite an
achievement. It's just the joy of having
new music to s