It looks like the members of Judas Priest don't plan to keep fans waiting long for the band's next studio album.

Guitarist Richie Faulkner shed a little light on their future plans during a recent interview with Reverb, explaining, "We're looking at maybe next year going into the studio again and putting down some ideas and seeing what we'll come up with."

The obvious question is what the new record will sound like, and how it'll carry the band's sound forward from their most recent effort, 2014's Redeemer of Souls — but it's too soon for anyone, including Faulkner, to tell yet.

"We don't know what direction it's going to take yet. Is it going to be a classic Priest record? Is it going to be a pioneering record, which Priest were famous for back in the day? They pushed the boundaries of heavy metal. That's why they're pioneers," Faulkner pointed out. "We don't know. We've got to follow up the quality and standard of Redeemer of Souls. It will be exciting to get back into the studio next year and see what happens."

Priest's plans for a relatively quick return to the studio are no doubt at least partly due to the urgings of singer Rob Halford, who's gone on record as saying they "can't afford to wait" multiple years between releases at this stage of their career. "Who wants to go home and sit down for a year?" he argued. "Especially while the band is buzzing and the energy’s there creatively."

Before they go home, Priest still need to clear their concert calendar, which currently includes a round of European winter dates that will see them touring with support from UFO. Check out a complete list of those shows below.

Judas Priest and UFO European Tour Dates
12/04 - Karlstad, Sweden - Lofbergs Arena
12/05 - Stockholm, Sweden - Ericsson Globe
12/06 - Tallinn, Estonia - Saku Arena
12/08 - Vilnius, Lithuania - Siemens Arena
12/10 - Gdansk, Poland - Ergo Arena
12/11 - Wroclaw, Poland - Stary Klasztork*
12/12 - Brno, Czech Republic - Rondo Arena
12/14 - Stuttgart, Germany - Schleierhalle
12/16 - Brussels, Belgium - Forest National
12/17 - Oberhausen, Germany - König-Pilsener Arena
* = UFO solo show

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