The 30th Anniversary Edition of JUDAS PRIEST's legendary album, British Steel has been released and guitarist K.K. Downing's Steel Mill website is celebrating the occasion with a Pounding The World Like A Battering Ram feature - click here to read.

About the British Steel milestone Downing remarks:

"A big metal thank you from the Priest! For the great responses that you have given to us for the 30th anniversary of British Steel, we are also very grateful for the way that the CD/DVD package has been received by you and for the kind words that many of you have sent on to us. As I have mentioned before, the nostalgia and fond memories that surround this album for us are unparalleled and now for it to experience such acclamation after so long is seriously gratifying indeed.

I have also said we are taking a little time off at last after so long but what a great opportunity I will have to relive my youth as a fan. Yes I will be able to check out my favourite bands this year at the festivals without worrying about anything except whether the beer is cold enough.

By the way just to let you know what’s happening with the band HOSTILE as one or two of you have asked. They have just played the Wakefield rock festival and have quite a few other gigs coming up including metal to the masses this Sunday in Nuneaton. All are UK dates. I will also be back in the studio with them soon to finish mixing their debut album Eve Of Destruction.

As you no doubt will be aware by now the world has just lost a great singer and a true gentleman. Ronnie James Dio was one of the nicest and kindest people you could ever meet, his music will live on as will our cherished memories both of him and his great performances. I would like to pass on to Wendy and all of Ronnie’s family sincere condolences not just from me but from everyone that ever heard one of the greatest voices in the history of music.

Lastly as always, my thanks to all of you for being fans of the music we all love so much and for feeding the flames of the furnaces that yield our precious metal."

Tim "Ripper" Owens (CHARRED WALLS OF THE DAMNED, HAIL!, Judas Priest, Iced Earth), Philip Anselmo (DOWN, PANTERA), Mikael Åkerfeldt (OPETH), Jeff Waters (ANNIHILATOR), Ralf Scheepers (PRIMAL FEAR) and Roy Z (HALFORD, BRICE DICKINSON) are also part of the Pounding The World Like A Battering Ram feature - check out excerpts below:

Tim "Ripper" Owens : "I just love the album, it is just RAW energy! Stripped down and straight to the point. Also there really isn't a lot of high singing or falsetto and I like that, I like that Rob just went in and laid it down. I just love it!"

Philip Anselmo: ""What made this record special were a few key things; raw, heavier-than-anything-else-out-there guitar sounds; compact, ultra-anthemic songs, and Rob Halford's 'genre-defining' vocal delivery. For me, this is Halford at his most aggressive."

Mikael Åkerfeldt: "British Steel is a full-blown classic heavy metal record. There's no disputing that. It's not the only "masterpiece" in the discography of Judas Priest, but probably one of the more well recognized. I love it from start to finish and still do to this day. Judas Priest are like the BEATLES to me in a sense. Their music has been there for me my entire life and it will be there 'til the day I die. I know I will enjoy their shit til the end of my days. They are quite responsible for me choosing a career as a rock musician and I am forever indebted to them."

Jeff Waters: "I remember listening to it on my (cassette) Walkman in the backyard of my parents’ house, dreaming to see Priest in concert and maybe meeting them personally some time in the future. As you know, I not only had the pleasure to meet them - Annihilator opened for them on the European leg of the great Painkiller tour as well as about 15 years later on the reunion tour."

Ralf Scheepers: "I remember vividly, banging my head to the first tones of that album without hearing any note from Robs voice as the song 'Rapid Fire' started off…….simply awesome! Of course when Rob came in singing my goose bumps didn’t stop shaking my entire body to the maximum."

Roy Z: ""When you think of Judas Priest you think of British Steel maybe moreso than any other album. For one, there is the iconic album cover artwork which is possibly the most striking metal cover of all time. The razor blade with the Priest logo across and the album title written on it epitomizes HEAVY METAL like nothing else I can think of. Genius!"

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