Judas Priest's British Steel album turns 40 today, the band's sixth studio album was released on April 14, 1980 via Columbia Records. In celebration of the milestone, Billboard has released an interview with frontman Rob Halford and bassist Ian Hill. Read an excerpt from the feature below.

One aspect of British Steel that can't be overlooked is the striking album art from Polish artist Roslaw Szaybo, who had previously created artwork for Priest's Sin After Sin, Stained Class and Hell Bent For Leather, and later, the UK cover for Point Of Entry. The close-up photo of a hand holding a razor blade bearing the band's name and album title was featured on t-shirts and posters, and it was even paid homage to in an early '00s ad from Absolut Vodka.

"He was brilliant and a fantastic guy," Halford says of Szaybo. "He passed away recently. A very important man in that role, especially with British Steel - it's become iconic and been used by many other sources outside the music industry."

The singer fondly recalls how the band worked with Szaybo, the painter, photographer and cover designer who also designed covers for the likes of Miles Davis, Elton John, The Clash, Leonard Cohen and Janis Joplin. "In some instances, we had an idea for a title," says Halford. "In some instances, we didn't. We really just got down to the office and looked through what he got. I think with British Steel we did have a suggestion. It played on the punk reference with the way that the punk movement had the razor blades and safety pins and stuff. We played on that and also played with the actual razor blade being part of the steel manufacturing industry, albeit a very small one. It was important. Originally, he had all the blood pouring off the fingers." (That later became the cover concept for the 30th anniversary reissue of the album.)

"We told him: We don't want to do that. We want to show you that metal is so strong we don't bleed," chuckles Halford. "So he very kindly made that adjustment. A terrific illustrator and cover designer. He was one of a kind, that's for sure."

Dig into the full feature at Billboard.com.