Former Judas Priest members form new band and share single, ‘Hellfire Thunderbolt’

Several former members of Judas Priest have formed a new band.

• READ MORE: 100 Greatest Heavy Metal Albums 

K.K. Downing, guitarist and co-founder of Judas Priest, has formed new group K.K.’s Priest – which also features two other former Priest members – vocalist Tim ‘Ripper’ Owens and drummer, Les Binks.

The group have now shared their first single, ‘Hellfire Thunderbolt’, which you can listen to below.

It’s taken from their upcoming new album, ‘Sermons Of The Sinner’, which is released on August 20 via EX1 Records.

Speaking about the new record, Downing said (via BrooklynVegan): “The whole concept is the fact that I continue proudly to be who I am and what I am and do what I do. It’s been nearly 10 years. I’m back making music.”

He continued: “All of my life, people always wanted an album that we’ve made in the past. ‘What’s the new album like? Will it be anything like ‘British Steel’? Will it be anything like ‘Sad Wings?’’ People hoping you’re going to make a record that you’ve already made. So in a way this record just sounds like something that has already been made or should have been be made.

“It does have a lot of things that are connected to the past. For example, ‘Brothers Of The Road’. If you take all the lyrics off and just listen to the music, maybe you could be listening to ‘You’ve Got Another Thing Comin’.”

He continued: “The ultimate message is we’ve moved away from this music that we loved for so long and we’re so dedicated to, and now we’re in a situation where lots of people are actually passing away.

“We’ve lost a lot of great people – Dio, Lemmy, I could go on – and that’s gonna be accelerated over the coming years. Basically, enjoy everything that’s left of this brand of metal including from me. It’s not going to last forever.”

You can see the tracklist for ‘Sermons Of The Sinner’ here:

‘Sermons Of The Sinner’ Tracklist
1. ‘Incarnation’
2. ‘Hellfire Thunderbolt’
3. ‘Sermons of the Sinner’
4. ‘Sacerdote y Diablo’
5. ‘Raise Your Fists’
6. ‘Brothers of the Road’
7. ‘Metal Through and Through’
8. ‘Wild and Free’
9. ‘Hail for the Priest’
10. ‘Return of the Sentinel’

Earlier this month, John Hinch, the former Judas Priest drummer who played on the band’s debut album, ‘Rocka Rolla’, died aged 73.

The musician’s death was confirmed by Judas Priest frontman Rob Halford, who shared a photo of his former bandmate on his Instagram Story with the caption: “RIP.”

“His style was strong, direct and unique,” Halford recalled to Loudwire. “I’ll be blasting ‘Rocka Rolla’ today!” he added.

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