Judas Priest have no plans to stop making albums.

Frontman Rob Halford has insisted recording new music and performing it live is what "sustains" the heavy metal band.

Although there is no release date for the follow-up to 2018's 'Firepower', the 70-year-old rocker has reassured fans that it's on the way at "some point".

He said when asked if they will ever quit the studio: "Look at the Stones, look at Aerosmith, look at Elton - you know, it's what defines us.

"Your music defines you.

"And what's important is that your music has to define you at the place that you're at now.

"So, the material that we have now, that we'll be working on, again, will be a reference point.

"This will be Judas Priest in 20-blah, blah, blah ... when it's released.

"This is a reinforcement of everything that you know about us and love about us, but in a new presentation.

"But at the core of the heart of it will be a connection that threads all the way back to sleeping in the van, because we couldn't afford the day shift, at the Rocka Rolla studio.

"And that's the joy - that's the joy of it."

Rob insisted they could quite easily sit back and become a heritage act, but making new music fuels them to carry on.

He added to Goldmine magazine: "Look, we don't need to make another album.

"We haven't needed to make another album because you'll hear, 'If you don't play 'Breaking The Law', I'm going to tear the roof off the building. If you don't play 'Living After Midnight' or 'Painkiller' ...'

"So, we have the songs.

"We've always had the songs for a long time now, but the thrill for us is to take these - as of right this moment - unheard tracks, we cook them, we finish them off, record them, and we can't wait to show them off live at some given point in the future.

"We need that. We need that part; it sustains us.

You know, Picasso never stopped painting until his final days.

"You can't put a plug into the creative force. It's just the wrong thing to do."