Rob Halford: New Judas Priest Will "Capture The Emotion Of What We're Going Through Together"

Rob Halford has revealed that the trauma and emotion of this year's coronavirus pandemic will filter through to new Judas Priest material when the band reassemble to continue songwriting sessions from earlier this year.

"The music we make has always been strong and full of optimism," says Rob, in a new interview with the Phoenix New Times. "Priest has been dealing with that as long as I remember."

Speaking just a month after the publication of Confess: The Autobiography, Rob says that while Judas Priest should, by rights, be on tour right now to celebrate their 50th anniversary, they're aiming to be onstage again by May or June 2021.

Read this: The 50 best albums from 1990

"I think the most profound thing for me with this pandemic has been the level of human consciousness," he says. "The way that we’re all connecting in a way that we’re probably never aware about. That someone in Japan or South America is feeling the same way I do – that is a really important analysis."

The band had been writing together at the beginning of the year, continuing the momentum of their 15-month Firepower world tour which finished in June 2019 at the Hard Rock Hotel And Casino in Las Vegas.

As the pandemic has continued, Rob has been strict and "super careful" to observe distancing guidelines at his home in Paradise Valley, Arizona. He says that he misses his immediate family, and if he had the chance would fly to the United Kingdom.

"All of the bands that I know are going nuts trying to get through this disconnection, mentally as much as anything else," he continues. "All the musicians I know are writing at home and getting through day to day."

In addition to Rob's autobiography, Judas Priest recently announced the publication of the band's first official book, Judas Priest – 50 Heavy Metal Years, compiled by David Silver, Ross Halfin and Jayne Andrews.

Their most recent album, 2018's Firepower, reached Number Five on both the Billboard Chart and the UK Top 40, making it their first top 10 record since their sixth album British Steel went silver, gold and platinum worldwide.

Read this: 13 of the greatest metal songs from late in a band's career