Metal gods Judas Priest have announced a 2015 European tour. This time, they’ll be bringing very special guest Five Finger Death Punch. Priest and FFDP are at the top of their respective metal generations, and this is certainly a powerful tour package. The trek kicks off on June 4 at the Icehall in Helsinki, Finland and wraps up on June 27 at the Arena in Lodz, Poland. Judas Priest frontman Rob Halford made a special guest appearance on Five Finger Death Punch’s “Life Me Up” from The Wrong Side of Heaven and The Righteous Side of Hell Volume 1 which debuted at #2 on the Billboard Top 200 last year. Halford joined FFDP for a performance of the song at the 2013 Revolver Golden God Awards.
Judas Priest are nearing the end of their massive U.S. arena trek with Steel Panther. The band’s new disc
Redeemer of Souls dropped back on July 14 in the UK via Columbia Records and July 15 in the US via Epic Records. It debuted at #6 on the Billboard Top 200, giving Judas Priest their first Top 10 album in America. The record is the much-anticipated follow-up to the band’s 2008 double concept album Nostradamus. The band proceeded to tour the world in support of the record from 2008-2009, which included a Metal Masters run with Heaven & Hell, Motörhead, and Testament. After touring in support of Nostradamus, founding guitarist K.K. Downing retired from the band in 2011. This new album will be the band’s first studio effort to feature new guitarist Richie Faulkner, who toured with the band on their Epitaph Tour from 2011-2012. Faulkner has had some big shoes to fill, but he’s risen to the occasion and helped Priest keep their signature double-ax attack. Part of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal, Judas Priest are widely considered godfathers of traditional heavy metal music. To date, the band has sold over 50 million albums worldwide. In 2010, the band garnered the Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance.
This past spring, Five Finger Death Punch hit the festival circuit in the U.S. with several appearances including a stop at Rock On The Range in Columbus, OH. The band is touring in support of their latest effort, the monster double-LP The Wrong Side of Heaven and The Righteous Side of Hell – Vol. 1 and Vol. 2. Both discs debuted at #2 on the Billboard Top 200 back in July 2013 and November 2013 respectively. The band recently toured on last year’s Australia’s Soundwave Festival, followed by a sold-out European tour. Five Finger Death Punch won Song of The Year and bassist Chris Kael won the Paul Gray Best Bassist Award at this year’s Revolver Golden Gods in Los Angeles. Throughout their young career, Five Finger Death Punch have sold almost 3 million albums in the United States.– by Matt Bishop
JUDAS PRIEST – Live Photo Gallery
FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH – Live Photo Gallery
June 4 – Helsinki, Finland @ Icehall
June 8 – Hamburg, Germany @ Sporthalle
June 9 – Berlin, Germany @ Arena Treptow
June 16 – Esch-sur-Alzette, Luxembourg @ Rockhal
June 17 – Paris, France @ Le Zenith
June 21 – Hinwil, Switzerland @ Rock The Ring
June 25 – Ostrava, Czech Republic @ CEZ Arena
June 26 – Prague, Czech Republic @ O2 Arena
June 27 – Lodz, Poland @ Arena