Last month, Mastodon’s Brent Hinds boldly claimed that Judas Priest was not metal, even stating how weird he thought it was to hear Rob Halford proclaim himself as a “Metal God.” Most of the metal community considered Hinds’ remarks a bit baffling. However, it appears that a few people actually agree with the Mastodon guitarist/vocalist … including Judas Priest himself.
In an interview with radio station 88.4 The Hawk, Halford was asked about Hinds’ comments, and his response is a bit surprising:
“When I first heard his interview on Jamey Jasta’s podcast, questioning our status as a metal band, I laughed it off. I was like ‘Uh, you sure about that buddy?’ But then I started thinking more and more about it, and even went back to listen to our older records, and I realized … I mean, of course we influenced metal bands, but maybe … Maybe Brent Hinds is right. Maybe we are more rock than metal?”
Halford says his revelation hit his bandmates pretty hard as well, so much so that Judas Priest is even considering dropping the whole “Metal Gods” persona as well, saying:
“I mean, it’s a little hard to simply drop an entire brand that we’ve been building for decades. And in no way would we consider changing the title to ‘Hard Rock Gods’ or something else, that’s just too clunky [laughs]. But we’re definitely considering embracing the term less. Hinds opening our eyes has definitely made us think, ‘Maybe we should stop calling ourselves ‘Metal Gods’?”
It’s crazy to think that out of all the people Hinds would convince that Judas Priest aren’t metal are the members of Judas Priest themselves (Halford even has a “metal gods” clothing line). Maybe it’s just the initial shock of someone like Hinds, someone who the band obviously respects, calling them out that’s disillusioning them, and Priest will be back to their good old metal ways, but the fact that it’s startled them this much is a surprise.
You can stream the entire interview with Halford [his remarks about possibly not being “metal” can be heard around the 4:34 mark] by clicking here, or below…
