Judas Priest guitarist Richie Faulkner says the band will start recording their 18th album in January – and hope to release it sometime in 2017.
Frontman Rob Halford confirmed they were back in the studio earlier this year getting ideas together for the follow-up to 2014 hit album Redeemer Of Souls.
Now Faulkner has given more information, including the band’s touring plans going forward.
He tells Sweetwater Sound: “We’re putting together a new record. We’ve been in the studio for a couple of months putting songs together.
“We haven’t started the recording process yet, but we’re recording demos – songs that work without the production to save them.
“We’re putting down some grassroots ideas and fleshing them out for the next Judas Priest record. We’re going to go into the studio to start recording in January. So it should be out sometime next year.
“We’re not touring next year, so we’re going to be touring, hopefully, in 2018.”
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Faulkner reveals he’s also putting the pieces in place for a touring event titled Cult Of The Guitar, which aims to celebrate the instrument in all its guises.
He continues: “I keep talking about the tribe that we’re all a part of. We’re all guitar nuts, we’re all music nuts, and whether you’re a drummer or a guitar player – the guitar is an integral part of music for the last 60 years.
“So it’s getting those guitars out of retirement and into where I believe they should be. It’s all about that – it’s all about uniting the tribe and getting people together.”
Further details on both the new Judas Priest album and the Cult Of The Guitar event will be revealed in due course.
