Frontman Rob Halford says the legendary metal group is "reconstructing the way we tour."

With a 21-date U.S. tour announced for the fall, it's clear that reports of Judas Priest's touring demise after its 2011-12 Epitaph World Tour were greatly exaggerated.

The iconic metal troupe hits the road October 21 to support its upcoming "Reedeemer of Souls" album, which lands on July 8. The tour includes the previously announced Louder Than Life festival on Oct. 8 in Louisville and wraps up Nov. 18 in Salt Lake City.

"When we were writing the ('Redeemer of Souls') song we were looking at each other and going, 'Man, I can't wait 'til we play this live,' " Priest frontman Rob Halford tells Billboard. " 'Nostradamus' was a very ambitious project; there was a lot of that we could put out on stage but would have to back it up in some way. All these songs on 'Redeemer of Souls' can be played live, so we're ready to go." Halford says Priest plans to take a break after the U.S. trek before heading out in Europe during early 2015 "and elsewhere through 2015 and 2016."

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And while he says that reports of Priest retiring from the road after the Epitaph World Tour were somewhat overstated, the group is indeed "reconstructing the way we tour. We're not going to go out on 18-month schleps anymore. We're gonna take big breaks here and there. We love to get out on the road; we're just kind of pulling the reins in a little bit."

Steel Panther will open shows for Priest's U.S. tour. Information on ticket sales, including merchandise bundles and VIP fan packages, will be posted at http://tickets.judaspriest.com. The tour is primarily designed to push "Redeemer of Souls" but it also coincides with the 45th anniversary of Priest's formation and the 40th anniversary of its first album, "Rocka Rolla," which Halford says is a mark of pride for he and his bandmates.

"It's an absolute blessing," the Metal God notes. "What's really heartwarming about this is the fact that the so-called old guard of metal and rock are still as strong and thriving as we ever were. I have very close friends like (Black Sabbath), who released a fantastic metal album and went out on this huge world tour; they've been together longer than we have. Then you get (Iron)Maiden, then bands like Metallica, doing that type of process. All the bands that have been making this music for a very long time are still as strong and relevant as they ever were, so we're part of some very good company."

Check out Judas Priest's upcoming tour itinerary:

10/01 – Rochester, N.Y.

10/03 – Hammond, Ind.

10/04 – Louisville, Ky.

10/09 – Brooklyn, N.Y.

10/10 – Atlantic City, N.J.

10/11 – Mashantucket, Ct.

10/14 – Lowell, Mass.

10/15 – Allentown, Pa.

10/17 – East Rutherford, N.J.

10/19 – Detroit, Mich.

10/24 – Baltimore, Md.

10/28 – Duluth, Ga.

10/30 – Hollywood, Fla.

11/06 – Allen, Texas

11/07 – Austin, Texas

11/10 – Los Angeles, Calif.

11/12 – Phoenix, Ariz.

11/13 – Highland, Calif.

11/14 – Las Vegas, Nev.

11/16 – San Jose, Calif.

11/18 – Salt Lake City, Utah