Judas Priest guitarist Glenn Tipton recently spoke with Ultimate Classic Rock, where he shed a little light on the band's coming new material. Tipton, who is still very involved with the band despite sitting out (most) live shows, called the new material "what every Priest fan would want to hear" without any curveballs.
"The epidemic really halted the writing process. But the band was kicking ideas around before that. I think it's what every Priest fan would want to hear. There's no attempt to be clever or try and do something too risky. It's just down and out Priest. And as I say, I think it will be what every Priest fan will want."
Judas Priest has been working on new material with guitarist and producer Andy Sneap (Dream Theater, Exodus, Saxon, etc.) for a few years now. Guitarist Richie Faulkner said in a recent interview that the new music is more progressive than their 2018 album Firepower and has "that Killing Machine swagger."
"Whenever you start a record, you never know how it's gonna turn out. So you might start with an idea of what it's gonna be, and as it kind of rolls on, it comes out something different. So you don't quite know. And also it's really hard to sum up your own music, I find, without sounding really pretentious. But I think this one — it's not Firepower 2, I don't think. It's its own thing, it's its own animal. If anything, I would say it's a bit more progressive in places, and in places it's got a bit more of that Killing Machine swagger."
"I know everyone says, 'Oh, is it the next Painkiller?' or 'Is it the next…?' whatever… I don't know if they'd ever done it, but I know we've never done it when I've been in the band; we've never tried to recreate an album. It's always we try to create an album that stands on its own legs. So I think it's definitely a little bit more progressive than Firepower and, as I said, in places it's got a little bit of that Killing Machine angry swagger attitude going on. But again, as I said, we're waiting to see what it turns out like, 'cause it could turn out completely different."
In the meantime, check out footage of Tipton playing "Living After Midnight" with the band at a recent show.
Judas Priest is out on the road with Queensrÿche.
3/20 – H-E-B Center at Cedar Park – Cedar Park, TX [Tickets]
3/21 – Freeman Coliseum – San Antonio, TX [Tickets]
3/23 – Nashville Municipal Auditorium – Nashville, TN [Tickets]
3/25 – Ameris Bank Amphitheatre – Alpharetta, GA [Tickets]
3/27 – Charleston Coliseum & Convention Center – Charleston, WV [Tickets]
3/29 – The Met Philadelphia – Philadelphia, PA [Tickets]
3/30 – Prudential Center – Newark, NJ [Tickets]
3/31 – The Theater at MGM National Harbor – National Harbor, MD [Tickets]
4/2 – Foxwoods Resort Casino – Mashantucket, CT [Tickets]
4/4 – Tsongas Center at UMass Lowell – Lowell, MA [Tickets]
4/7 – Scotiabank Centre – Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada [Tickets]
4/10 – Videotron Center – Quebec City, Quebec, Canada [Tickets]
4/11 – Place Bell – Laval, Quebec, Canada [Tickets]
4/13 – FirstOntario Centre – Hamilton, Ontario, Canada [Tickets]
