KTVU.com: Given the period of about a year between the reunion announcement and the release of the box set, I was wondering if you were short on time to get together a new track or two for it? Or did you just decide to save new material for the upcoming album?

K.K. Downing 2 K.K. Downing 2

K.K. Downing: You know with everything that was happening, we didn't have a whole lot of time to work with after Rob got back in the band. It's been a bit of a whirlwind really. We've covered an awful lot of ground with what we've been doing. So the new album is ready to go; we've just got to put the last lick of paint on it and give it to the record company as soon as we get back.

That's going to be delivered to them probably the first or second week in November at the latest for them to turn it 'round. Because we want it out actually before the New Year. The 28th of December is the release date we're going to go for which is quite a unique release date, since no one usually releases anything then. It's usually before Christmas or after New Year.

KTVU.com: Now that you're back working with Rob again, did the new material come easily? Did you just fall back into the old chemistry you had?

K.K. Downing: Yeah, we have tons of material. It actually hard to figure out what's going to go on the album. I think everybody's going to be pleased with it.

KTVU.com: Do you see yourselves picking up where you left off with Painkiller as far as leaning towards a harder, more extreme sound?

K.K. Downing: Yeah, definitely. I think people will be pleased to have the traditional Priest sound back. I'm not saying that there won't be a couple of surprises in there, but it's not going to be like a guitar detuning thing or anything like that.

KTVU.com: You guys come from Birmingham in England, where Sabbath is from. I know that part of the excitement for a lot of people going to Ozzfest is finally getting to see both bands together…

K.K. Downing: It's great. I must confess I think I enjoy watching Sabbath more now than I ever did. I don't know what it is, but they sound incredible. It's a great set list.

KTVU.com: Being from the same city, I was wondering if you saw yourselves as following in their footsteps in some respects. I know Rob as often spoken of Black Sabbath as his favorite band; did you aim towards pushing metal farther and faster in a direction that was even more aggressive than what Sabbath had come up with originally?

K.K. Downing: No, I just think we were on different sides of the town really (laughs). Birmingham is a pretty big city; they were on the east side while we were on the west, so we just did our own thing. Obviously we were aware of Sabbath, we knew about the slowness and the tolling of the bells and all that. We didn't do too much of that. We just got on with our own thing really.

You have to be different and unique. You can be the same genre of music, but you have to have a completely different identity. And it's prevalent at the show, as you'll see for yourself. We're completely different, yet there's something that connects us and I guess there always has been. I just don't understand why we've never toured with those guys before.

KTVU.com: Along with contemporaries Thin Lizzy, Judas Priest really pioneered the concept of dual lead guitars in rock.

K.K. Downing: Yeah, we've known those guys for many years.

KTVU.com: Was there any influence that led you towards using guitars that way and departing from the traditional rhythm and lead guitar approach?

K.K. Downing: Well, when I first became a fan of Thin Lizzy, they only had the one guitar player, Eric Bell. They were obviously a great band, but their two-guitar thing didn't really influence us. We had two guitars before we even had an album and were always a heavier band…

But I can remember the days when we'd be going down the motorway in one direction and they'd be going the other sometimes. Back when we used to sleep in the van, I remember one night we both did a gig somewhere we were on what we call the motorway services -- you'd call them truck stops -- and I remember one time we parked along side each other and Phil Lynott [Thin Lizzy's leader and main songwriter] he had a really bad toothache and he's like screamin' and moanin' in the night and keeping everybody awake. We eventually had to move the van to the other side of the car park (laughs)…

Classic era Downing/Halford Classic era Priest

KTVU.com: Judas Priest pioneered the development of how metal sounds, inspiring a lot of musicians to take the music even further. Do you follow the more extreme styles of metal you influenced and do you have any favorites among the newer generation of band, maybe some of the groups touring with Ozzfest.

K.K. Downing: You know, to be honest … there have been some good bands to come out. Pantera, for example, they were a band to come out of that, they were huge fans of Priest. But other than that, I have to say it's all gone a bit wild and untamed. Maybe it's just an age thing. But having said that, I have got albums that I do listen to. A couple of the black metal bands and stuff like that. But it remains to be seen if anyone is going to come to the forefront and become the next thing. You've heard of this band from the U.K. called the Darkness?

KTVU.com: Yeah, I actually wanted to ask you your take on them…

K.K. Downing: Well, they're more likely to become very big than probably any of these other bands because of the melody and accessibility of what they do. Even though some people aren't exactly sure whether they're tongue and cheek and making a bit of a joke of it. When I bought the record, I was in the airport in the U.K. and the sales guy said "Oh, that's a really good album!" And I said, "Really? What do you think is good about it?" and he said "Well, I'm not sure if it's a joke or not, but it's a great record!" (laughs) You know what I mean? I don't know, I could be completely wrong about that, but the songs are definitely a lot more accessible to a lot more people.

With Priest, we had "Livin' After Midnight," "Another Thing Comin'," "Breakin' the Law" and "Diamonds and Rust" ... that's what I'd call accessible music. So I think it doesn't matter how dark or fast or heavy you are, you've still got to have some of those songs.