Former Judas Priest guitarist K.K. Downing recently spoke with Germany's Bleeding4metal.de in support of Downing's book, Heavy Duty: Days And Nights In Judas Priest. Some of his comments managed to raise the ire of his replacement, Richie Faulkner, who stepped in when Downing willingly left the band in April 2011 after 42 years. Following is Downing's comment:

"At the time I quit the band, I had more energy than anyone else on stage. In fact, that is one of the reasons I quit. The band just seemed to have slowed down to a steady walk. Even Richie would do well to keep up with me if I rejoined. It seems wrong that Scott, Richie and (touring guitarist) Andy (Sneap) are not officially members of Judas Priest as they are on a wage. So, only two members are on stage right now. Yet they don't want me back. It shows the strength of the brand name Judas Priest that I spent 40 years being a part of."

Faulkner has since stepped up and issued the following statement:

"Regarding a recent untruthful article, I'm not sure why anyone feels they have the right to openly discuss others' financial standings, true or otherwise. This seems to be intended as a swipe at the band and an attempt to devalue my and Scott's position in the band.

For the record, I have not been paid a wage since 2012 and have always been given creative input in this band since day one. This band of brothers have been nothing but a family to me and both band and management have always stated and demonstrated they wanted a band member. It's an honor to serve in the best heavy metal band in the world and give 1000% to the fans around the globe that have supported this band for 50 years.

It's a shame that someone I held in such high regard feels the need to take these low roads when I've done absolutely nothing but give my absolute all to a position he left of his own accord. It's both uninformed, unfounded, unnecessary and very unfortunate and disappointing.

We've always stood firm to not get involved in Internet clickbait, but I felt this crossed a line for me personally and wanted to set these untruths straight myself."