There’s a Judas Priest documentary in production that will provide the whole nine yards on the metal icons’ fascinating five decades-plus career.
It’s another of those projects that you can’t believe hasn’t already happened. After all, there’s more than enough interesting material. Priest formed long before their NWOBHM peers, way back in 1969 and have ridden out crises that would have broken lesser bands. The most notable of these was the ‘subliminal messages’ trial of the mid 1980s. Ludicrously, parents of US kids that had committed suicide sued Judas Priest claiming that the band had inserted messages in their music telling listeners ‘try suicide’ and ‘let’s be dead’.
And of course there’s frontman Rob Halford, who broke new ground in heavy metal by coming out as gay in the late 1990s. Thankfully, his greatest fears – that fans wouldn’t accept him – were not realised, and his, and the band’s, stature was enhanced as a result.
The doc, entitled The Ballad Of Judas Priest, is being co-directed by film maker Sam Dunn, and Rage Against The Machine/ Audioslave guitarist Tom Morello. It’ll be the first time Morello has worked in this field. There’s no confirmed release date as yet.
In a statement, the band said: "We have lived and breathed metal for over five decades, and finally in this documentary we are summoning our congregation to officially witness our lives uncensored, in a never-before-seen way. The cassock comes off, revealing Priest in all its metal glory!"
"While some may know Judas Priest for their huge hits that have shaped the heavy metal genre, there is so much more to their story," Morello and Dunn added. "Tracing their incredible 50-year journey, this film will capture how Judas Priest both defined the sound and look of metal, but also made it a more inclusive place along the way. We are grateful to the band for allowing us such intimate, unfiltered access to their lives and look forward to bringing this film to the metal masses around the world."
And Priest themselves show no signs of slowing down. The band still feature three members of the ‘classic’ late 70s/early 80s line up: Halford, bassist Ian Hill and guitarist Glenn Tipton. They released their nineteenth album Invincible Shield last year and play a North American co-headlining tour with Alice Cooper this autumn.
