Dumbest thing that Tim “Ripper” Owens has heard is KK’s Priest “kinda sounds like Judas Priest”
Dumbest thing that Tim “Ripper” Owens has heard is KK’s Priest “kinda sounds like Judas Priest”
Former Judas Priest and current KK’s Priest frontman Tim “Ripper” Owens was recently interviewed by Metal Mike for the 80’s Glam Metalcast podcast.
Owens was in Judas Priest from 1996 to 2003 during which the group released two studio albums Jugulator (1997) and Demolition (2001). Downing was in Judas Priest from 1970 to 2011. Owens and Downing have joined forces with Tony 
Newton on bass, A.J. Mills on guitar and Sean Elg on drums under the name KK’s Priest and they are about to release the album Sermons of The Sinner via Explorer1 Music Group/EX1 Records on August 20, 2021. KK’s Priest recently released a video for their debut single “Hellfire Thunderbolt.”
On the new KK’s Priest album Sermons of The Sinner, Owens indicated (as transcribed by the 80’s Glam Metalcast podcast with slight edits): “With “Hellfire Thunderbolt”, I think everyone got a taste of what the album is all about. The album has a little of everything. It has the aggression right out of the gate, but it also has the classic KK feel as well. It’s got the singalong stuff, the epic stuff, it’s got everything. Next out will be the song “Sermons of the Sinner.” It has falsetto, high pitched vocal thing on it. The rest of the album mixes it up very well.
“Hellfire Thunderbolt” has that old school Priest sound. People out there complain about everything… That’s how the cookie crumbles nowadays. The dumbest complaint I hear from people is “It kinda sounds like Judas Priest.” Well, KK has written Judas Priest and only Judas Priest songs since the ’70s. You can say it sounds like K.K. Downing, because that’s how he writes. It’s great that he didn’t try to reinvent the wheel. The album is fantastic and it really has that classic sound. There’s no need to go away from that. It pools from a lot of different records. Ken didn’t go in and try and make it sound like a certain album, he just wrote. I can hear little guitar parts that sound like Rocka Rolla. It really has a bit of everything and I can tell KK wasn’t forcing it.”
In terms of whether KK’s strained relations with Judas Priest have any effect on him, Owens opined: “No, it is what it is. Glenn [Tipton], KK, and Rob [Halford] were together a long time. It’s like a family…but how many families 30 years later are all together… It gets tough. Listen, I don’t burn bridges, I’m friends with everyone. They have their issues and they deal with it. I saw it when I was in the band. It’s not something that just started. They are all great people. Hopefully someday they will mend fences and do what they have to do. I’m just fortunate to be on this record, because it’s so strong.”
On whether he prefers Jugulator or Demolition, Owens stated: “I lean toward Demolition. I like “Hell Is Home”, “One On One”, “Machine Man”, “Lost And Found”. I absolutely love Jugulator, but there’s just a little more melody on Demolition. Funny thing is I think I have a tougher time singing the stuff on Demolition. I think people are still talking about those albums because they can’t find them! It’s the weirdest thing ever how those albums are erased from their history. I wouldn’t make any money from those records, but they would. Could you imagine if they put them out on vinyl? They would make money because people want them.”
KK’s Priest‘s “Hellfire Thunderbolt” video:
Judas Priest‘s “Burn In Hell” video (from Jugulator album):
You can listen to the interview with Tim “Ripper” Owens on the 80’s Glam Metalcast podcast below: