LA Weekly's Skylaire Alfvegren recently caught up with JUDAS PRIEST frontman Rob Halford to discuss the band's new album, Nostradamus. The following is an excerpt from the interview.

Q: Do you feel certain camaraderie with Nostradamus because he was basically exiled, somewhat like heavy metal, and ultimately triumphed when he gained the patronage of Catherine de Medici and wrote the quatrains?

Halford: "Yeah! Thank you for picking up on that! You're one of the few journalists that has. But that was one of the appealing parts of the man's character. You know, in metal, we talk about rejection, and running up against people that attack us. That's exactly what that guy went through. He was looked upon as a bit of a freak, and he had this gift, this uncanny ability to have these visions and prophecies, and he was looked upon as being someone — at least by the Catholic Church — dabbling in the black arts."

Q: I definitely see a parallel between your music and the man's life.

Haford: "Oh, but it was a terrible time to live, the 16th century, to a certain extent. There were still remnants of the Inquisition going on, which was hideous. He dealt with all that, and we thought, man, this guy led a bit of a metal life with some of those emotional elements, but he stood up for himself and he was triumphant in the end, and that's just a great story."

Q: Where did you guys get the bug to do a concept album?

Halford: "Everybody's surprised, and we're kind of, like, blinking ... I suppose it's just an unusual thing to do. It's certainly unusual for someone like Priest — at least from an outside perspective — who've been around since the early 1970s. We've wanted to do a concept record forever. But we never really got 'round to it, because we've had a life of 'write the songs, go into the studio, do a world tour ... write the songs, go into the studio, do a world tour.' We've been doing that for over 35 years, you know? So it was our manager Bill Curbishley, he knew that this was the right time; he's a savvy guy. We thought this is just another incredible Curbishley moment, and so we went off into the studio and fulfilled this dream."

Go to this location for the complete interview.