Former Judas Priest drummer Les Binks has been active lately with two Priest related projects. Earlier this year he unveiled his new band, Les Binks’ Priesthood, who played a couple of shows in the UK with a set featuring his time with the band between 1976-79, performing tracks from the albums that he appeared on, ‘Stained Class’, ‘Killing Machine’ (titled ‘Hell Bent For Leather’ in the USA) and the live album ‘Unleashed In The East’.
Les has also joined forces with Paul Crook’s Devilstar project which also features fellow former Priest members Tim ‘Ripper’ Owens and KK Downing as well as bassist Joey Vera of Armored Saint and Fates Warning.
The first release from the group that is billed as an ‘Interactive All-Star Collective’ will be ‘Beyond The Realms Of Death’, which was written by Les and Rob Halford. Devilstar’s version of the classic track is out tomorrow, Friday June 1st, on all streaming and download platforms and was covered to commemorate the 40th anniversary of ‘Stained Class’, the legendary album on which the song originally appeared.
Les spent an afternoon on the MetalTalk sofa and delved into his first band, Fancy, who scored two hit singles in America, his involvement with Roger Glover’s ‘Butterfly Ball’, his current Priesthood and Devilstar projects, meeting KK again for the first time in 37 years, as well as some revelatory and insightful anecdotes from his time in one of the most influential Metal bands of all time.
As well as this, Les has stories about his time playing with current Priest guitarist Richie Faulkner. The pair played together at Metalworks in London and this union indirectly led to Richie joining Les’ old band.
During this ninety minute conversation, Les reveals stories from Priest history that have not been told before; some heads are gonna roll as Les provides memories of a groundbreaking period for the Metal Gods.
The interview is in two parts and delivers the goods right here, so sit back, relax and enjoy as Les takes us beyond the realms of Priest.
