Judas Priest’s Next Record Could Be Released As Soon As 2023

After Judas Priest’s triumphant return with their 2018 album Firepower, the band members and fans alike have been eagerly preparing for their next metal masterpiece. While Judas Priest is currently on tour celebrating their 50th anniversary in addition to readying themselves for their long overdue induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, they appear to be finishing up their next studio LP sooner than expected.

In a recent interview with New York’s Q104.3, Judas Priest frontman Rob Halford briefly outlined the band’s plans for the rest of 2022 and beyond, and he happened to mention that the music for their next album is already in its final stages.

“It is close, yeah. All the writing’s done; the bulk of the recording is done,” Rob tells Q104.3 (as transcribed by Loudwire). “I’ve still gotta put my vocal tracks down. So, in essence, it’s done, which is a great feeling, because that really points us to the metal future. Everything that we’ve done in Priest over the last 50-odd years has been driven by the latest music that we’re making. So this is no exception.”

Halford goes on to outline the band’s commitments for the next year which includes supporting their metal kin, Ozzy Osbourne.

“We’ll finish this 50th-anniversary celebration down in São Paulo, Brazil on December the 18th, and that’ll be this year done. And then next year we’re kicking off with our good friend Ozzy in the U.K.; we’ll do some shows with him, and in Europe, and then a few other bits and pieces we’ve got going over in Europe. And then we stop. And then we plan the next release sequence for the next Priest album.”

At the moment, Judas Priest’s 2023 European dates extend all the way out into mid June, so it’s likely the earliest the band would release their next album would be Q3 or Q4 of 2023. Of course timeframes change, but provided Halford’s comments on how far along the band is with the recording process, it doesn’t sound like they have much left on the writing side of things for this new record. And considering the resounding success that was 2018’s Firepower, which is undoubtedly the band’s best work since Painkiller (1990), there’s sure to be a strong focus on making this next record stand shoulder to shoulder with their last work.