Judas Priest's new album, Redeemer Of Souls, is due out via Epic Records/Sony Music on July 8th in North America. Frontman Rob Halford recently spoke with Noisey about the impending release and the band's 40 year career:

Q: After 40 years as a band, it’s pretty damn remarkable that you have a group of guys who are still hungry for that next evolutionary step for their music. Just looking at that, and seeing the story of Judas Priest as it’s unfolded and continues to unfold, what have you personally seen as the most significant parts of that story?

Halford: "I think it’s just been staying focused on quality rather than quantity, really. To complete the mission of writing is relatively easy to do, but it’s very difficult to write good songs that last forever. You’ll hear it talked about that this band or that band or this song or that song have stood the test of time, and I think that’s one of the joys of being in this particular type of music. With other kinds of music, things are coming and going at the speed of light it seems in today’s world. In metal, you really are working hard to create these classic moments that you say this record represents. I think right from the very beginning, if you put you heart in the right place, and you have all your dreams and ambitions and issues in the right place from the get go, and you stay the course, and you try not to get distracted by any pitfalls, and people pulling you this way and that way, that’s the metal maze that you can get lost in, so I think if you stay to your core beliefs, as we have in Priest, then that’s the indicator that you’re doing what you should be doing, and I believe that that’s been our tenacity through the years."

Q: What is it that keeps bringing you back and drawing you in to this music where you’re still creating and still just as passionate with Redeemer of Souls as you were with Rocka Rolla or Sad Wings of Destiny or any of those early Judas Priest releases?

Halford: "I think that essentially since music was invented, it’s basically reached out and touched every single kind of conceivable generation. It’s a very difficult kind of thing to describe isn’t it, Jonathan, because you can only really sense it when you’re listening to it. Whether you’re listening to it with other people or in a room by yourself with your headphones on or at a concert, it’s a very difficult thing to pin down. But I think the elements of metal with its sense of power and its aggression and its volume and its various textures, and especially the messages, I think metal, and when I say “metal” I’m talking about all kinds of metal, but I think it’s always had this very powerful charge behind it of opportunity and of overcoming things in life, which is a message that Priest has always embraced. It’s a very empowering kind of music, heavy metal is. I’m sure that people would say the same thing about country music or R&B; or rap and hip-hop or whatever, but I think it’s an absolute fact that if you speak to people coming out of the venue when they’ve just seen their favorite heavy metal band, they all just feel so alive, and they feel so invigorated. The whole experience is just very emotional and very cathartic, and so all of those different attributes, for me, have been very much intact with heavy metal, and it’s just about this human desire. It’s a very important ingredient of your personal love for metal. I’m just thrilled that I’m about to be a 63-year-old metalhead. (Laughs) My love for this music is just as strong as a teenage metalhead. We connect with each other without even saying anything because we both feel the same way inside. It’s a blessing, metal is. Definitely."

Go to this location for the complete interview.

Redeemer Of Souls tracklisting:

"Dragonaut"
"Redeemer Of Souls"
"Halls Of Valhalla"
"Sword Of Damocles"
"March Of The Damned"
"Down In Flames"
"Hell & Back"
"Cold Blooded"
"Metalizer"
"Crossfire"
"Secrets Of The Dead"
"Battle Cry"
"Beginning Of The End"

Bonus Tracks:

"Snakebite"
"Tears Of Blood"
"Creatures"
"Bring It On"
"Never Forget"

Listen to "March Of The Damned" and "Redeemer Of Souls" now:

"Halls Of Valhalla" preview:

"Crossfire" preview with commentary from frontman Rob Halford:

BraveWords sat down with original metal gods Rob Halford, Glenn Tipton along with new guitarist Richie Faulkner (who replaced original member KK Downing in 2011) recently in New York. A few excerpts from the chat follow:

BraveWords: Richie, how was it for you recording your first studio album with Priest?

Richie Faulkner: "Well, it was a very organic experience. It was a very natural one, personally. Growing up, learning how to write songs in school bands, you listened to guys like Priest - 'What do they do here? How do they construct the song? What it is about this part of the song that makes me feel a certain way?' And you analyze these things as an early songwriter, and put them into your own songs. So without knowing it, you're already taking a master class in songwriting. And then when you start to put ideas forward, you don't have to put a different 'hat' on or write in a different way, it's what comes naturally from learning those songs and how to write songs back in the day, when you're learning to do it for the first time. So from the first rehearsals in Priest, it was very much an inclusive atmosphere. 'What do you think about the stage set? Set list? Changes in the songs we can make, to make the experience bigger and better, and all the creative input goes into one pot to create the best for the band.' And that was no exception with the writing process - very inclusive. We started throwing ideas into the hat, and it was organic, very natural, and direct. A very inclusive creative process to be a part of."

BraveWords: How would you say this album compares to previous Priest albums?

Rob Halford: "They've all got their own separate identity. That's the great thing that I've always personally treasured about Priest. From Rocka Rolla 40 years ago to Redeemer of Souls, there is a connection running through that's instinctively the sound of Judas Priest, but each record has always been able to stand on its own legs and its character. The Painkiller record is as different to Stained Class as Stained Class is to Screaming for Vengeance to Point of Entry. 17 times that's happened. We've always been very proud in that respect, that we're not a metal band that keeps replicating things. I think the only thing that has been consistent has been that we've always perceived ourselves as a classic heavy metal band, in the way that metal is defined in all these different labels and boxes and characters. With us, we're a classic heavy metal band, so I think what we've done on Redeemer of Souls is just reinforce that and really push that to the front more than ever before. And you can sense that. Each of these songs are totally separate statements. But collectively, they represent the embodiment of Judas Priest."

Read more at Bravewords.com.

Pre-order Redeemer Of Souls at here or via Amazon below: