Judas Priest

K.K. Downing may have punched his Judas Priest timecard for the last time, but that doesn't mean he's lost his love for metal. Quite the contrary, in fact -- and he's using his official site to not only get the word out about his own current projects, but raise the flag about albums and artists he feels are doing exciting work.

Tops on Downing's list right now? The reunited Black Sabbath, whose upcoming album and tour earned a devil-horned salute in the guitarist's year-end note to fans.

Judas Priest have been ‘Breaking’ the Law’ for almost 40 years now, and after several decades of metal, the band are currently out on their farewell ‘Epitaph’ tour. However, don’t confuse farewell with goodbye. The band is not calling it a day-- just scaling things back a bit. In a recent interview, Halford talked about the band's longevity, the diversity of their fans and how he got his start.

Former Judas Priest guitarist Kenneth “K.K.” Downing recently opened up about his earth-shaking decision to leave the metal titans. Speaking with Valley reporter Grace Bailey (via Blabbermouth), Downing explained that the decision didn’t come quickly, and it came down to an “unsettlement” with “working relationships.”

Richie Faulkner is not a household metal name yet, but he is the guitarist who stepped into replace K.K. Downing in Judas Priest. Those are massive boots to fill, but Faulkner, who also played with Lauren Harris, the daughter of Iron Maiden bassist Steve, is taking it all in stride. With this sort of pedigree, Richie Faulkner is a name that will become even more familiar to headbangers.