JUDAS PRIEST To Launch New World Tour In June

JUDAS PRIEST's official web site has been updated with the following message:

"The JUDAS PRIEST machine will be rolling out on the road again next year. The tour starts in June 2008 — dates to be announced shortly! Please note that only when dates are announced here on our website are they actually official and confirmed!!"

As previously reported, JUDAS PRIEST is among the bands who are rumored to be playing next year's Sweden Rock Festival, set to take place June 4-7, 2008 in in Sölvesborg, Sweden.

JUDAS PRIEST's upcoming tour will include shows where the group's entire upcoming "Nostradamus" album (based on the legendary 16th century prophet Nostradamus) will be performed as well as concerts featuring the band's classic songs, singer Rob Halford revealed during a November 16, 2007 appearance on Eddie Trunk's "Friday Night Rocks" radio show.

Regarding the direction of the material and how whole concept for the "Nostradamus" record came about, Halford recently told PureGrainAudio.com, "It sounds absolutely fucking amazing and that's not me inflating it, it is genuinely spectacular. So we're still carrying on with that and it should be out sometime in 2008. The idea (for the record) came from our manager Bill Curbishley, because we were ready to go in and do another studio record, but Bill came to see us towards the end of the 'Angel of Retribution' tour, he came to Russia, we were playing Russia and we had lunch with him and he said, 'Look, I have this idea.' Bill manages THE WHO, you know, Pete and Roger, and Bill was behind the enormous success of 'Tommy' and he said, 'I just think that you know, maybe you should think about this possibility of doing a concept album and I've been thinking about this guy Nostradamus.' And as soon as he brought the name up, I'm like, I'm there, let's go, you don't have to say anything else. I knew something of him already like everybody does about the books that you read about him, or on the Internet or on TV, documentaries and I thought wow, this is absolutely brilliant so that's where it all came about from."

On the rumors that "Nostradamus" will be a double album, Halford said, "It is a rumor still. I mean, there is an enormous amount of material and you can only put so much on a single CD so you know, we're trying to tell the story of his life and we're trying to cover every significant moment of his life and I think you know, when we got it all recorded, that's when you're faced with the reality of how much time you got and how much a CD will afford you and the timing of it all. So we just ask everyone to bear with us and as we actually get into the mixing mode, we'll be able to be more definitive and tell everybody exactly what we've got, but we just want to make sure we tell his life story so we'll do whatever it takes to do that."

The organizers of the Sweden Rock Festival will announce the first 20-25 bands confirmed for next year's event during the kick-off party on November 24 at Tyrol in Stockholm. The party will be broadcast live on the Stockholm radio station 106.7 Rockklassiker beginning at 7:00 p.m. local time and will be available for streaming worldwide via Rockklassiker.se.

This year's Sweden Rock Festival kick-off celebration will feature performances by GOTTHARD, SABATON and HAZY/DIZZY. In addition, a one-off all-star band has also been put together featuring:

Uli Jon Roth (SCORPIONS, ELECTRIC SUN) - Guitar
Mark Boals (YNGWIE MALMSTEEN, RING OF FIRE) - Vocals
Mats Levén (YNGWIE MALMSTEEN, AT VANCE, THERION) - Vocals
Liz Vandall (SAHARA, Uli JON ROTH) - Vocals
Janne Stark (OVERDRIVE, BALTIMOORE) - Guitar
Ule Ritgen (ZENO, ELECTRIC SUN, FAIR WARNING) - Bass
Thomas Broman (ELECTRIC BOYS, JOHN NORUM, 21 GUNS) - Drums

The group will perform vintage SCORPIONS and ELECTRIC SUN material, along with other "nice surprises."