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Metal gods Judas Priest continue their “Epitaph” farewell world tour, as the band gears up to launch the North American leg in San Antonio, Texas on October 12.

With one head in the present, Priest vocalist Rob Halford is also looking forward – to the band’s next album.

"I think one of the things that we seriously considered was how to maintain the longevity of Priest, and one of the ways of doing that is just to cut back a little bit on these intense tours that we do," Halford tells SoundSpike. "We're still going to stay focused on recording and writing new songs; as you may have heard we have a new album coming out sometime next year.”

The project will feature new material that he and guitarist Glenn Tipton penned in the first quarter of the year. It will be the follow-up to band’s 2008 concept album "Nostradamus."

"It made absolute sense to be who we are and what we're renowned for, which is making the best heavy metal albums that we can," he said. "Our next record, when it's completed, will just be a traditional British heavy metal release, which obviously means there's going to be loads of riffs and screaming vocals and crazy guitars, lead breaks and all of the wonderful aspects that are loved about Judas Priest and heavy metal in general. It's going to be pretty much a straightforward, good solid piece of heavy metal that we're working on to release next year."

The album will be Priest's first with new guitarist Richie Faulkner, who replaced the retired K.K. Downing earlier this year.

Check out the full Halford interview at SoundSpike here.