Judas Priest are winding down the recording process for their next studio album. The band started work on the follow-up to Redeemer of Souls late last year and entered the studio in January to begin recording. In a new interview with Planet Rock (seen above), Rob Halford offers an update on the current state of their next album.

"We're still tracking," explained Halford. "I won't say we're at the end [of the recording process], but we feel like we're coming to some of the final moments. And it's just great to watch how a record comes together, from those early, early days where there was just me and Glenn [Tipton] and Richie [Faulkner] sitting in the studio with a couple of guitars and just, you know, doing what we do. You start the day with nothing, and then at the end of day, potentially, you've got a really great, classic Priest song that may live forever."

While not nailing down a window for the arrival of the disc, Halford did seem excited about what would be coming in 2018. The singer continued, "We're hard at it. We're still doing what we love to do. Priest is a working band more than anything else. It's that Midlands ethic, the work ethic of anybody that goes to work ... I say it's work, 'cause it is work — you're working with your mind, you're being creative. And now we're moving through into other stages, we're preparing for another big world tour, getting stage designs sorted, lighting designs sorted. So this is the beginning of what's gonna be a very exciting 2018 period."

Just last month, Judas Priest confirmed that they were working with producer Tom Allom on the disc, with the assistance of Andy Sneap and engineer Mike Exeter. Allom has an extensive history with Priest, while also serving as the engineer on Black Sabbath's first two albums. Sneap has worked with Carcass, Testament, Amon Amarth, Exodus, Killswitch Engage and many others, while Exeter is making a return engagement after mixing and doing production work on Redeemer of Souls.

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