Heavy metal legends and recent Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame inductees Judas Priest just played a well-received set opening for AC/DC at the Power Trip festival in California. Leading up to the show, the band had hinted at a new album in the works, and during their performance it was revealed that “Invincible Shield” will arrive on March 8 of next year.
A new single, “Panic Attack,” is also set to arrive this Friday.
Earlier this year, Priest frontman Rob Halford told Audacy Check-In that the album is likely to be a slight departure from previous album, “Firepower,” but will still contain plenty of Priest hallmarks.
“Yeah, the metal is there,” he said. “But here’s the thing: we’ve tried our best not to replicate anything that we’ve done. From ‘Rocka Rolla’ all the way through to ‘Firepower’, each record has had a distinctive character. And it’s tough because fans go, ‘We want another ‘Painkiller’,’ ‘We want another ‘British Steel’.’ And [it’s, like], ‘Dude, we’ve already done that.’”
“Fans know that we’re a band that is always full of adventure and trying new stuff,” he continued. “And so, yeah, this has got probably some more progressive elements that we’ve never really delved into before. And that’s exciting, because, again, it gives us and our fans another opportunity to see a different side of Priest. But it’s still metal. There’s just more of it. There are more notes than there were before.”
To pre-order “Invincible Shield”, visit shop.judaspriest.com.
