RICHIE FAULKNER Talks New JUDAS PRIEST Album - "It'll Probably Be Early '24"

Judas Priest guitarist Richie Faulkner recently appeared on Tulsa Music Stream, hosted by Janna and Scott Squires. During the interview, which can be viewed below, Faulkner was asked about the impending follow-up to Firepower, which was released in 2018. The currently untitled effort will be Priest's 19th studio album.

Faulkner: "I spoke to Glenn (Tipton, guitarist) via email this morning. We were talking about the running order for the tracklisting of the album. So, that's where the album's at. It's been recorded. It's pretty much mixed now, and we're just trying to decide what order the tracks should go. It's a really important thing. If you put the tracks in the wrong order... it's like a movie. If you edit the movie in the wrong order, it loses its potency. It's got to be right. That's the stage we're at. So, it's pretty close. Then obviously we've got to manufacture the thing. The record label's got to manufacture the packaging and the artwork and the vinyl, and get it out there. That all takes a little bit of time. But as far as the creative and the recording and everything like that, it's pretty much almost finished."

Tulsa Music Stream: What's the tentative release date?

Faulkner: "If we handed it into the record label today, I think vinyl takes six months at least to actually make; there's a backlog of vinyl. So, we can work out what the earliest is going to be, put it that way. I think it'll probably be early '24, I would say. I won't get fired for that. I think that's a safe estimation to say. It's going to be early '24."

Other topics discussed include Elegant Weapons, Judas Priest replacing Ozzy Osbourne on the Power Trip Festival, have George Lynch as his Father-in-Law and more. Faulkner's interview begins at the 18:15 mark.