‘Metal God’ of Judas Priest aims to live up to mantle

By Jerry Fink

Wednesday, Aug. 5, 2009 | 2 a.m.

Judas Priest frontman Rob Halford doesn’t mind being called “the Metal God.”

“The fans have called me that for many, many years,” Halford says from Cincinnati, a recent stop on a seemingly never-ending tour. “It’s a term of affection, but it’s like that thing from Spider-Man — with great things comes responsibility, so you really have to step it up a notch, like when fans called Elvis ‘The King.’ You have to go out there and show the fans why you are given those kinds of titles.

“It’s a nice thing to be called. There’s only one Metal God, and that’s me.”

The Metal God and the rest of Judas Priest will be in Las Vegas on Saturday at the Thomas & Mack Center.

“We’re slowly working our way around the country again,” says the man who set the standard for metal frontmen.

Formed in Birmingham, England, in 1969, Judas Priest is one of the most influential bands in the history of heavy metal, dominating the charts in the late ’70s and ’80s.

The band played loud and fast, featuring Halford’s unique vocals and the ringing, metallic guitar lines of K.K. Downing and Glenn Tipton. Its early albums, “Sad Wings of Destiny,” “Sin After Sin,” “Stained Class” and “Hell Bent for Leather” (“Killing Machine” in the U.K.), helped define the metal sound. By 1980 Judas Priest’s “British Steel” helped put metal on mainstream radio with such hook-heavy anthems as “Breaking the Law” and “Living After Midnight.”

Halford left the group in 1991.

“And not in a comfortable way of course,” he says. “After the Painkiller Tour, we’d been literally on the road nonstop for 20 years. In hindsight we should have taken a long break just to decompress, to relax.”

Halford and the band stayed split for 12 years. During that time, the band replaced him with “Ripper” Owens, the singer in a Judas Priest tribute band (and the inspiration for the movie “Rock Star”). Halford revealed his homosexuality during an MTV interview, which was no surprise to fans or former bandmates. His desire to stretch his creative wings led him to form other bands — Fight, Two and Halford. But he knew he’d be back.

“Some communication breakdown ended up me being away from the band for a considerable length of time, which enabled me to do some other things I wanted to do,” he says. “I always dreamed in my heart I would get a chance to come back to Priest and of course that’s what happened a few years ago when we reunited and did ‘Angel of Retribution.’ ”

Halford initiated the reunion.

“I made the first move,” he says. “Somebody had to say something. The ball was in my court. It was the gentlemanly thing to do, so I made the first connection and in a short space of time we were able to put things back to the way we have it now and I’m enjoying the experience more than ever.”

The reunion coincided with the release of the “Metalogy” box set. They did a live concert tour in Europe in 2004, and co-headlined the 2004 Ozzfest with Black Sabbath — getting rave reviews in the U.S. media.

Their latest tour is a continuation of the promotion of their 2008 release “Nostradamus” and a teaser setting up next year’s 30th anniversary celebration of the release of “British Steel.”

“We wanted to kind of get the party started, so to speak,” Halford says. “So what we’re doing right now, at the start of the show we’re playing ‘British Steel’ in its entirety, which takes 40 to 45 minutes. The fans are absolutely loving that experience, because we’ve never done anything like that before — then we’re finishing off the show with some other Priest classics.”

During the tour the group is raffling off for charity the customized Harley-Davidson Crossbones motorcycle it uses in its concerts.

Halford has homes in Phoenix, San Diego, Amsterdam and his native Walsall, England, but he doesn’t spend much time in any of them.

“It’s constant travel,” he says. “You know that thing they say about gypsies and rock ’n’ roll — you never put your suitcase down in a room for more than 24 hours. That’s the case for Priest for like 30 of the past 35 years. We have traveled millions of miles and played thousands of shows. We love what we do, but we’re constantly moving. The only time we get to stay put for any significant length of time is when we’re recording a new record, and that usually takes place in the U.K.”

The rare times they aren’t performing, most of the band members have other interests.

Founding members Downing and bassist Ian Hill produce records. Downing is building a nine-hole private golf course at his home in the U.K. Halford has his Metal God Records and Metal God Apparel.

“You would think at this point in our career things would be slowing down,” Halford says. “But it seems to be going in the opposite direction.”