Judas Priest Frontman Rob Halford Compares Black Sabbath and Deep Purple

While Judas Priest has been conquering the world for a long time, the frontman Rob Halford appeared in an interview, recently, comparing other famous metal bands Black Sabbath and Deep Purple.

As one of the oldest and famous heavy metal bands in the music industry, also Judas Priest celebrated its milestone with fans, releasing something new as it turned 50 years of heavy metal experience, recently this year. And as the regarded band has been celebrating its 50th anniversary, its frontman Rob Halford recently appeared in an interview, where he compared two other metal bands while weighing in which band is better, Black Sabbath or Deep Purple?

During his appearance, the talented singer of Judas Priest, Rob Halford compared the two other regarded bands, as he was asked which fellow British band was more important to him personally while he was also coming up in the music scene in Birmingham, England in the late 1960s and early 1970s. So, he started replying, whether which of the two icons of hard and heavy music was more important to him,  Black Sabbath or Deep Purple:

“They’re all important to me for all of the styles and variety of music that they presented. I was naturally drawn to Sabbath because of the heaviness,” started comparing Judas Priest singer.

“If you put Purple on and then you put Sabbath on, or Sabbath on then Purple, they’re both really strong, powerful bands, depending on which album you’re listening to. Deep Purple is hard rock – to me, they’re not metal. I’ll probably be killed for saying that, but that’s just the way I feel.

Black Sabbath is exclusively metal, although Tony Iommi has always said Sabbath isn’t metal. I don’t know what’s going on, but that’s the world we live in when musicians talk about each other. There’s a certain speed, there’s a certain intensity in Purple that is also in Sabbath, but it’s in a different texture.

When you listen to what (Deep Purple drummer Ian Paice) was doing, for example, pushing those songs, I was as excited by that as I was by ‘Fairies Wear Boots’ or ‘Iron Man’ or any of these super-heavy tracks from Sabbath.

So they were all important to me, as bands are to all musicians. All musicians are inspired and influenced by other musicians, so they all are very valuable to me. I wouldn’t put one above the rest in terms of a list. The whole representation of the work that they make is important.”

In the meantime, the regarded metal band Judas Priest has also joined among the other bands that have been getting rid of their cages to meet their fans in 2022 touring, announcing their rescheduled “50 Heavy Metal Years” North American tour dates for March-April 2022, which will also be supported by Queensrÿche alongside them.

While Judas Priest has also been its milestone for its 50th anniversary, the regarded band was also among the bands that were forced to postpone shows. But they had to do that more likely for the band’s guitarist Richie Faulkner suffered an acute cardiac aortic dissection during a performance at the Louder Than Life festival, rather than the other bands that have suffered from the ongoing pandemic, as well.

Reflecting diverse aspects of heavy metal with their albums, Judas Priest has become one of the iconic metal bands throughout its career. As the regarded band has involved its music by shifting dynamics and tempo, their songs also influenced other bands with a much harder-edged approach, as Judas Priest’s was some of the heaviest of those days. But ultimately, the band began to incorporate a more commercial, radio-friendly style to their music with their fifth album, as it also became one of the exemplary and influential heavy metal bands and earned the nickname “Metal Gods” from their song of the same name.

Ultimately, you can also hear the whole conversation of Judas Priest frontman Rob Halford, as he compares the two regarded bands, Black Sabbath and Deep Purple, down below.