In a new interview with LA Daily News, guitarist K.K. Downing, who famously left Judas Priest in 2011, discusses his new autobiography, Heavy Duty: Days And Nights In Judas Priest, as well as his time in the band leading up to his departure.

“The shine seemed to go off the band,” he says. “It didn’t seem to be what it used to be, as if people were just going through the motions, and that didn’t suit me either.”

In regards to the present, Downing reveals: "I’m starting to play again. I’ll shut myself away for the winter and see what comes out in the spring. Time’s moving on, and time’s not on my side, or probably other people’s side for that matter. So I need to get my skates on and figure out what I’m going to do.”

Read the full interview with K.K. at LA Daily News.

Heavy Duty: Days And Nights In Judas Priest is out now via Da Capo Press, and available to order here.

A book synopsis states: Judas Priest formed in the industrial city of Birmingham,

England, in 1968. With its distinctive twin-guitar sound, studs-and-leather image, and international sales of over 50 million records, Judas Priest became the archetypal heavy metal band in the 1980s. Iconic tracks like “Breaking The Law”, “Living After Midnight”, and “You’ve Got Another Thing Coming” helped the band achieve extraordinary success, but no one from the band has stepped out to tell their or the band’s story until now.

As the band approaches its golden anniversary, fans will at last be able to delve backstage into the decades of shocking, hilarious, and haunting stories that surround the heavy metal institution. In Heavy Duty guitarist K.K. Downing discusses frontman Rob Halford’s hidden sexuality, the personality conflicts, the business screw-ups, the acrimonious relationship with fellow heavy metal band Iron Maiden, and how Judas Priest was at ground zero for the parental outrage targeting heavy metal in the ’80s. Lastly, he reveals the life-changing moment when he looked at his bandmates on stage during a 2010 concert and thought, “This is the last show.” Whatever the topic, whoever’s involved, K.K. doesn’t hold back.

With the band at the beginning through his retirement in 2010 (and even still as a member of the band’s board of directors), Downing has seen it all and is now finally at a place in his life where he can also let it all go. Even if you’re a lifelong fan, if you think you know the full story of Judas Priest, well, you’ve got another thing coming.