KK retired a couple years ago, replaced by Richie Faulkner- damn good but a bit sterile, which was actually good for replicating KK's parts.
Last year Glenn's Parkinson's flared up causing him not to be able to tour.
Filling in is the co-producer (and "Hell" guitarist), Andy Sneap- good but not GT caliber.
You can hear his influence in the guitar tracks, too.
...and they didn't ask KK to come back, hence some of the drama.
New album is good, but not terribly JP sounding (except for Halford).
More "new metal" to compete with Godsmack and that ilk.
Edit- interesting tie-in- Judas Priest was named after a Bob Dylan song.
All this time I thought it was simply after the somewhat uncommon "swear" of the same name.