Judas Priest Confirm They’re Writing A New Album & Will Return To The Studio In 2026

Judas Priest bass player Ian Hill confirms the metal legends are set to return to the studio in 2026 to record a brand new album.

After 50 years and nineteen studio albums under their belt, Judas Priest isn’t looking to throw in the towel any time soon. In fact, bassist Ian Hill has confirmed that the metal icons are expected to return to the studio in 2026 to record a follow-up to 2024’s Invincible Shield.

In an interview with Audio Ink Radio, Hill revealed that the band will return to the studio soon: “There’s plans to go back into the studio in the new year. So when it’ll be released, I don’t know. It’s a long process. We’re in no rush either, so it’ll be a while. But the recording is gonna happen, it looks like, next year.”

Hill would go on to share that guitarist Richie Faulkner has already stockpiled a fair few riffs while on the road, which the band plans to use for the album. “I know Richie has got quite a few ideas together. So we’ve got a head start there.”

Hill would further share that the album won’t be a one-and-done, and that the band plans to take the album on tour once it’s released. “Well, that’ll happen as well. Obviously, if you have an album, you have to go out and tour with it. So, yeah, that’ll happen too.”

Last week, the band released their official cover of Black Sabbath‘s ‘War Pigs’, which featured the late Ozzy Osbourne‘s vocals on the track. The band shared that Sharon Osbourne was so impressed with their cover that she asked if there was a way to get Ozzy included in the track.

Judas Priest had also released their nineteenth studio album, Invincible Shield, back in March 2024, which received glowing reviews, with outlets calling it a career milestone. Rich Hobson of Louder Sound would go on to write that “Fifty years on from their tentative first steps, Priest have produced what may well be the most defiantly, unrelentingly triumphant record of their career”.

The album would debut at number 18 on the Billboard 200 and claimed the top spot on the Billboard Top Hard Rock Albums chart.