British metal icons Judas Priest are out on the U.S. run on of their Epitaph Tour, and the tour reaches Japan in 2012. In an interview with ClassicRockRevisited.com, guitarist Glenn Tipton talked about the massive tour, their new guitarist Richie Faulkner and the future of the band.

When asked if this was the end of Judas Priest, Tipton responded by saying, “It is the end of the huge world tour. If a string of dates makes sense and it was offered to us, then we would consider it. We’ve definitely got at least one, maybe two, albums left in us. It is not the end of the band by any means; it’s just our last tour of the planet.”

Tipton continued, saying, “The music is the most important thing. I have seen things from my own point of view, as I’ve considered retiring a few times myself. This can be very arduous, and we’re all getting on a little bit in age.”

What stops him from retiring? “The moment you walk onto the stage and the crowd roars, then you wonder if you can ever give it up, as it is such a great vibe out there,” Tipton said.

When asked about new bandmate Richie Faulkner, fellow stringman Tipton stated, “Richie is great. He has stepped in and amazed us all. He has a lot of good ideas. We have been in this band for forty years, so sometimes we are a bit hesitant to make certain decisions. We have new input on things and that helped us a lot.”

He went on to explain that, “Someone recommended him. We contacted him for about two weeks but he didn’t respond to us, as he thought it was a joke. We got another number for him and we finally got him to realize that it wasn’t a joke.”

So, when can Priest fans expect a new album? “Rob and I did some writing in January and February. We have actually done eight to ten songs," Tipton said. "We’d like to sit down with Richie, as he has already presented a few ideas that are very Priest-like. That is a whole new option that we want to pursue. The thing that we need more than anything else is time. We have a very heavy touring schedule and then we will need to rest a bit before we get back in the studio.”

The U.S. leg of the Epitaph Tour runs until Dec. 3, where it wraps up in Biloxi, Miss. For a full list of dates, click here.

More From Loudwire