Tag Archives: les binks

K.K. Downing Introduces New Band “K.K.’s Priest” To The World

Former Judas Priest guitarist K.K. Downing has been in the news recently with appearances at some festivals and jamming out with the likes of former Manowar’s Ross The Boss and just last month when the news about his signing to Explorer1 Music was announced. If you missed that alert just click HERE because it will be good to know as Mr. Downing introduces his brand-new band to the general public.

k.k.'s priest logo

The Press Release:
K.K Downing, founding member of Judas Priest, today announces the name of his new band KK’s PRIEST. This all new band features some very familiar faces. With Downing on guitar, KK’s PRIEST features ex-Judas Priest members Tim “Ripper” Owens on vocals, who fronted the band for eight years and recorded two studio albums, Jugulator, featuring the GRAMMY® nominted track “Bullet Train,” and Demolition, plus two live albums, and Les Binks who was the drummer on the studio albums Stained Class and Killing Machine and the live album Unleashed in the East. They are joined by Tony Newton (Voodoo Six) on bass, and A.J. Mills (Hostile) on guitar. With the line-up complete, KK’s PRIEST is hard at work in the studio creating the band’s debut album which will be released globally by Explorer1 Music Group as a part of the partnership with K.K Downing signed early 2020. More details to come.

k.k.'s priest group shot

KK’s PRIEST is represented exclusively by Andy Gould for Explorer1, with Jim Morewood handling the band’s global bookings outside the U.S. for the K2 Agency. Extensive touring and festival dates are already being planned with KK’s PRIEST taking to stages around the world to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of Judas Priest and K.K Downing’s career as a founding member. The band will deliver everything that fans would expect of Downing and his ability to deliver up everything that is Priest including newly written metal masterpieces.
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The Judas Priest Name Generator Makes Your Name A Real “Painkiller”

judas priest logo

Before I begin this little bit of fun I have to tell you or remind you about if you are among those who might have forgotten this notion about me; I am a big fan of the legendary Judas Priest. So I always tell people that I have three favorite bands and they are KISS, Van Halen and Judas Priest and before you think the third spot is a slight it’s an even “2” for me as KISS always seems to be the top tier. Both Halen and Priest are the same level IMHO and that’s what makes this installment into the content library of PiercingMetal.com so much fun. Do you remember a couple of years ago when we posted about that Metallica Name Generator? Whichever your answer was doesn’t matter since I will link to that later on in the post. In honor of the bands brand-new album “Firepower” there is now a Name Generator to get your own letters or maybe even your bands name in the same font as Judas Priest. As expected I ran this for the PiercingMetal site and think that I like that one even more than I do the one for Metallica. Take a look down below.

piercingmetal judas priest logo
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PiercingMetal Visits The Judas Priest Pop-Up Shop @ Sony Square NYC

This past Friday, March 9th – The Legendary Judas Priest released their 18th album with “Firepower”. In honor of the Metal Magnus Opus, the fine folks at Sony Square NYC have set up a small gallery of photographs, memorabilia and stage attire. Since I had to be in the city for the Michael Schenker Fest performance at Irving Plaza, I paid a visit to the store to see the gallery and shoot some photos and video for those too far away to get here themselves. The photos video were shot with the Samsung point and shoot while the Facebook Live and Instagram stuff were done with my new Galaxy Note 8. Let’s take a look at the video first shall we?

Pretty cool right? Now let’s share the photos of the exhibit on their own to allow for better appreciation of the mighty band. That first thing we saw was an interactive screen and it would do what you did. I tried to make it give the METAL HORNS and you can see me trying to type notes down in the left hand corner.

judas priest, sony square nyc, judas priest pop-up shop
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“The Complete Albums Collection” by Judas Priest

Artist: Judas Priest
Title: “The Complete Albums Collection”
Label: Columbia/Epic/Legacy Records
Release Date: 1/24/2012
Genre: Heavy Metal
Rating: 4.5/5

If you are truly a card carrying Heavy Metal fan then you most likely not only hold the name of the band Judas Priest in high regard but you also probably have at least four to five of their albums in your collection if not more. On the other hand should you call yourself a Metal fan and you DO NOT own any Judas Priest albums I will need to see your paperwork and am afraid that I will have to prohibit you from citing this genre as being among your interests. The boxed set “Complete Albums Collection” by Judas Priest is one of those items meant for the absolute diehard and features remastered editions of the bands works. Oh wait a second. Technically that is not true as none of the albums featuring Tim “Ripper” Owens are offered up here and instead we get what is called the legendary lineup of Halford, Downing, Tipton and Hill. Over the years the band had a number of drummers before locking the talented Scott Travis into place with 1991’s “Painkiller”. As this release is a massive one and features seventeen of their albums I decided to offer up a quick viewpoint about each CD and say what it meant to me as a fan of the band for the time I had been into them. One of the most immediate exciting points about this release was the inclusion of the group’s first two releases of “Rocka-Rolla” and “Sad Wings Of Destiny” which had never before been available as sanctioned albums by the band and their label of many decades.

Rocka-Rolla (1974): While it’s great to have “Rocka-Rolla” in remastered form at long last, I will admit that if this was my own first go at Priest that I might not have been originally sold on them. Of course it was released in 1974 and has more of a Heavy Rock vibe with some essence of trippy Psychedelics. Yes there were some stand out tunes but the bands best material was ahead of them.

Sad Wings Of Destiny (1976): Now this was more like it and I think was many fans first foray into the bands magnificence. I was still nowhere near my first meeting with the Priest but I would be here soon enough. Classics on this album like “Victim Of Changes”, “Tyrant” and “Genocide” are still very important songs to the bands set list. With “Sad Wings” Judas Priest had arrived.
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“The Chosen Few” by Judas Priest

Artist: Judas Priest
Title: “The Chosen Few”
Label: Sony Legacy
Release Date: 10/11/2011
Genre: Heavy Metal
Rating: 2.5/5

After forty plus years of putting some incredible Heavy Metal music in the faces of their fans, the guys in Judas Priest have embarked on their “Epitaph” tour and plan for the most part to call it a career. It’s not the same news that the Scorpions gave as far as a full on band retirement, but the Priest said that no more worldwide extended touring will happen and that fans can still expect some new recordings when the inspiration comes to them. That news brings us to the very latest release by Judas Priest which is entitled “The Chosen Few” and well, how do I best describe this to you…….
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