Words: Scott Harrell
Photo: Courtesy Chipster PR

The handful of names that will forever qualify as true titans of classic heavy metal is always a small one, but Judas Priest is and will always be in there. Thirty-five years after helping set the tone of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal - and 29 after defining it with the benchmark British Steel - Priest has weathered trend shifts, lineup changes and original lead singer Rob Halford's coming-out, and continues to supply its trademarked twin-guitar attack to a legion of eternally loyal fans.

On the eve of the band's U.S. tour with Whitesnake to promote the new in-concert disc A Touch of Evil - Live, guitarist K.K. Downing got on the phone with REAX to chat about the new CD's mix of rarities and recent material, relearning his own guitar parts and just how Priest got to be one of the most iconic and enduring acts in metal.

REAX: Having already released one of the most famous live albums of all time, is there added pressure to outdo Unleashed In The East when you decide to do another?
KKD: Laughs I don't know. I guess hopefully, just the quality of playing is good, and of the songs is good. We're not too worried about it, really. Obviously, I've heard the record and Unleashed mixer Tom Allom was aboard to do the mixes, so there's a bit of continuity there. So it's all good, really.

REAX: It definitely seems like you wanted to stay away from the radio songs for this one, and get some live versions of die-hard fan favorites on there for posterity, like "Riding On The Wind" and "Beyond The Realms" and the newer stuff.
KKD: Yeah. These songs have not been previously released on DVD, or anywhere live. We've just been traveling the world, rocking out for a few years since Rob rejoined, and it just seemed like a cool thing to do, let the fans have these songs.

REAX: Is that a tough decision, deciding between a track from Nostradamus and a live version of one of the hits that might get more airplay?
KKD: No, we just went for ... all of the stuff that was previously unreleased. We thought that if it was good enough be in the live set, then whatever it was was good enough for the release.

REAX: Some might call putting out a live album a risky proposition with the music industry in this weird flux, but it seems like metal and hard rock live albums by established bands always seem to do well. Do you think it's just the energy? Or is it that the fans are loyal completists?
KKD: Probably a mixture of all sorts of things, really. I think a lot of us - I don't know if you're like me, but a good live album is ... it's great to listen to, really. I guess some of the reasons are - sometimes you release studio records, and you just don't get the same energy or vibe from it if you're in a certain mood. A live album, and especially if you were there, and had just seen the band in the last few years - and who knows? The shouts and the whistles and the applause, that could be you in the audience.

REAX: On this tour, you're going to be playing British Steel in its entirety. Have you found that your attitudes or emotional responses to the material have changed over the years?
KKD: Um, it might be early days yet, we're still relearning them, to be honest. Laughs But it's sounding good. I guess we're trying to get them to sound exactly the same, we're purists, we don't want them to sound like newer versions, and sometimes it's not that easy to regress 30 years. The other thing is, some of that stuff is, "how the hell did I play that?" Laughs It makes you appreciate yourself a little bit more. "Did I really do that?" So that's really, really cool.

I think the main thing is, we'd never put that set list together if we weren't doing the whole album, some of those songs wouldn't be considered. We've got so many songs, you know? And we always argue about the set list. Laughs

REAX: Is there anything in particular on there that you maybe haven't played live in a long time, something you're really excited to tear into live again?
KKD: Oh yeah. "Stealer," "The Rage," all that stuff, I 'm thinking. What matters is the fact that it might never have been chosen for previous set lists. It's going in anyway, and it's down to us to deliver the goods, it's as simple as that.

REAX: The way that music is made, promoted and consumed is changing so much, it seems nearly impossible for a band starting out now to have the kind of longevity that Priest has enjoyed. Is there any one secret to the band's endurance?
KKD: No. I think we've always been hard workers. It's always kind of been a work in progress, really. Some bands are fortunate to have a first album be a big hit, but we've always seemed to be forging ahead. But the good thing is, the world has been getting bigger for quite some time, like when the Iron Curtain came down, so now there are countries we've just been to for the first time, Turkey, Colombia, Korea. And there's talk about us going to China, India, South Africa. So that's the good thing. We went to Russia for the first time not too long ago. As long as we can keep going out there to the fans, the fans are there, that's for sure. With the Internet, people writing to us - and they do - then we're happy to stay on board and taking the music to the fans. We're very fortunate to still be here and doing it.

Judas Priest in Florida:
August 15 - St. Augustine Amphitheatre, St. Augustine
August 16 - St. Pete Times Forum, Tampa
August 17 - Seminole Hard Rock Arena, Hollywood
August 19 - Germain Arena, Estero

judaspriest.com