JUDAS PRIEST: Live DVD In The Works, Album Scheduled For Nov. 9

Garry Sharpe-Young, editor of www.rockdetector.com — the world's biggest rock and metal database (with more than 25,000 bands covered) — spoke to JUDAS PRIEST singer Rob Halford upfront of the band's Barcelona gig. JUDAS PRIEST has ranked No. 1 on the Rockdetector user charts for a straight seven months. The full interview will be posted soon, but here are some quotes, obtained exclusively by BLABBERMOUTH.NET:

On the first gig in Hannover, Germany (June 2):

"We really didn’t allow ourselves any time to get emotional about it or think too much because of the really tight schedule we set ourselves. From the day we decided we were going to do this the pace has been just frightening. We were rehearsing right up to half an hour before our good friends in ANNIHILATOR hit the stage in Hannover. That's how tight it was.

"The show went like a dream. I looked to my right and there's K.K., look to my left there's Glenn, glance back and see Ian and Scott and it was such a rush. It just felt like coming home. It was truthfully just a great, great show. Nobody dropped any major bollocks, we just sailed right through it. In true British fashion we got off, grabbed a beer and said, 'That was alright, wasn’t it?' "

On the upcoming DVD:

"The band has locked in so quickly that it's just fierce. We just feel so strong, so unstoppable and the energy levels are just so high. All five of us are just buzzing so we're going to record the Barcelona show for a DVD. That might sound ambitious, because we are quite early on in the world tour, but we simply have to capture this energy that we have right now."

On the new album. Does it follow the grand PRIEST tradition of having at least one song ending in "er?"

"Like 'Painkiller'? 'Sinner'? Or 'Ripper'? Hang on, I have to think… yes it does! That's funny because our producer Roy Z pointed that out to us too. All our classic albums have an 'er' song. We never realized."

On the new material. PRIEST formula or adventurous?

"With this one we just had so much material stockpiled. I entered into lyric world as soon as we had set the reunion rolling and Glenn and K.K. have come up with some amazing, amazing riffs. I think we cover all the areas, there are fast tracks, there is some acousticy, ballad stuff, some really heavy mid-tempo songs and also a great big, Cinerama 'Lord of the Rings'-type epic too. On top of that we have one or two songs that really make you blink and think. It was nice to roll the dice like that and get a bit adventurous."

On upcoming album and tour:

"We're aiming for a 9th November release. That might change, but it's the plan. We hope to kick off a major world tour in January. This time around the plan at the moment is to start in the U.K., we've been looking at shows in Russia, then Mr. Udo has invited us to Japan, after which we hope to get down to Australia, New Zealand and those parts of the world before getting back into the U.S. I'm hoping we’re going to be on the road for a very long time."