  Rob Halford of the heavy metal band Judas Priest. (Veronica Henri/Sun Media) |
Judas Priest lead singer Rob Halford is on the line from Montreal and will be in town this weekend for a special celebrity interview on Saturday as part of the North By Northeast (NXNE) music festival.
While routinely answering questions regarding the heavy metal band's coming concept album concerning Nostradamus, one larger question must be asked.
Will Judas Priest ever appear on American Idol?
"I think the response answers the question," Halford says after a rather hearty laugh.
Although he won't be rubbing elbows with Simon Cowell any time soon, Halford is quite busy with coming solo reissues, compilations and box sets being released by his own company, Metal God Entertainment. The first of these, Halford: Metal God Essentials -- Volume 1, will be out in Canada on July 10.
Halford has also quickly embraced the new technologies surrounding the music industry, being the first in the metal realm to release DEPs (Digital Entertainment Packages) of his own material.
"The Internet is as revolutionary as the television or telephone when those inventions were created," he says. "We're at the forefront of this in the metal world. But although we have the digital releases, there are still fans in territories desiring physical product. They want to experience both the tactile vibe that comes with the actual CD and everything that comes with it."
Aside from the solo material, Halford says Judas Priest keeps working on its Nostradamus record. Unlike some groups terrified by the idea of a concept album, Judas Priest was quite excited by the task.
"It's just been an amazing challenge," he says. "It's been exciting to put the life of this Frenchman who lived 500 years ago into a musical realm. It deals with his prophecies but also shows that he had a human side with ups and downs, which we all can relate to."
According to reports the new album could end up being a two-disc affair. Halford says that's possible, given the amount of material recorded. But he's a bit hesitant to say when it will hit stores.
"We're still tracking it," he says. "There's been so much buzz generated from the media and fans about the new album that it's incredible. And we haven't even done any of the promotional work in support of it.
"There's just a lot of material to go through and we don't want to leave any stone unturned. We don't know for certain when it's coming out and we aren't putting a date on it yet. It will be finished when it's finished."
What Halford can confirm is Judas Priest will be on the road in 2008 supporting Nostradamus with a "grueling world tour" stopping in Toronto at some point.
And by then even the touring and ticketing industry could be in flux. The recent decision by Sharon and Ozzy Osbourne to stage this summer's entire Ozzfest tour at no cost to fans took Halford by surprise.
"Sharon is just revolutionary the way she's doing it," he says. "I'm not sure if it's going to be free from now on, but it's been done in an affordable way with the sponsors coming on board. If you look at the actual nuts and bolts of it, it's quite spectacular."
What Halford doesn't find surprising is the growth of heavy metal. He says the genre's diversity is a far cry from its outset when Black Sabbath and Judas Priest were the only two prominent acts around nearly 40 years ago.
As for the reason for its continued popularity, well, you don't have to be Nostradamus to figure that out.
"There are a lot of attractive qualities," he says. "There's the power and the volume and it's a way to release pressure. It's like every (pro wrestling) event, or watching a hockey game and seeing them beat the crap out of each other."
Halford will be at NXNE as a feature interview subject Saturday afternoon at the Holiday Inn on King W. Tix for the interview, $25, are on sale at the Holiday Inn/NXNE headquarters. A full-day pass is $75.
