News from 2007
December 2007
Winter’s Come To Town…
Christmas is upon us and what a better way to spend it than with another set of glowing updates here at the Steel Mill!
To celebrate the season we are proud to publish the full K.K. Downing Biography, which is now available for download as PDF-file! Sit back and enjoy reading at the Bio-section!
K.K. sends his holiday greetings on Downing Street with further questions and answers from fans around the globe.
This month also features Finland’s premier melodic metal stars Twilight Guardians, they have a new record “Ghost Reborn” just out and Millworkers recently spent an evening in Salo with bassist Mikko and drummer Henku. Results can be viewed at Interview-section, along with a clip of their excellent cover of Priest’s “Rocka Rolla.”
In addition Fan Forge, Discography and Articles have all been updated with new fiery hot material. Check those out as well!
2008 promises to be the year of metal, among other things a new Judas Priest album and world tour will be unleashed and there will be loads of exciting updates coming up so keep logging on to the site!
We all at the Steel Mill wish every metalhead Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, keep feeding the flames and rock forever! !
- K.K. Downing & The Millworkers -
November 2007
Rock Hard, Ride Free!
Only a month away from Christmas and a new set of blazing hot updates are here!
K.K.’s blog for November can be found from usual address at Downing Street, as well as plenty of new questions and answers. Another Fan Profile is updated at the same location. Be sure to also check out Fan Forge, now showing a picture of our happy competition winner with his new shirt!
For other coverage a new tribute band interview featuring Hungary’s Meltdown, along with video of group’s performance can be viewed here. A look at legendary Twisted Sister’s recent gig in Helsinki packed with great photos is now up in the Reviews-section.
And to top it off, lots of new goodies are on display in Discography, Articles, Wallpapers and Scrapbook! Winter might slow most of ‘em down but Steel Mill continues to defiantly go against the grain and bring glow into the midst of darkness. Stay tuned for more!
- K.K. Downing & The Millworkers -
October 31st 2007
Mill Bill takes on the World!
The grand jury of the Steel Mill pondered their verdict long and hard as there were plenty of great ideas to consider. However, the results are in now and creature lurking about in the halls of Steel Mill will from now on be known as….Mill Bill. The lucky winner is Hampus Martinsson, who will receive a cool t-shirt. Congratulations! Check out K.K.’s personal video message for the winner and all participants here!
Once again, thank you to everyone for sending their suggestions! Keep feeding the flames!
- K.K. Downing & The Millworkers -
October 27th 2007
Happy birthday K.K.
October 2007
Charging Into
The Metal Season!
While fall brings us cold nights and darker days, the flames at the Steel Mill keep burning bright! To consummate your metal hunger, check out a brand new exclusive video of K.K.’s recent trip to Finland. He discusses the Kerrang! Awards, this web site, playing with Sturm Und Drang and more! Also included are clips from the VRock festival and previews of K.K’s electrifying jam session with Priestone, you can expect more of that later!
The fifth part in The Fuel of the Furnace series with K.K’s comments is now up along with a new set of Q&A. Two long lost classic albums by Bangalore Choir and McAuley Schenker Group have been dug up and reviewed by the Steel Mill team. Be sure to check out further updates in Articles, Discography and Fan Forge.
And as for the huge competition the jury has made its decision, the creature will have its name by the end of this month - stay tuned
- K.K. Downing & The Millworkers -
September 2007
Pounding the World
Like a Battering Ram!
First off the whole Steel Mill salutes Judas Priest for their much deserved Kerrang! Hall Of Fame award! Another great achievement in metal masters lengthy career! One of the other groups awarded that night were of the newer generation - San Francisco’s finest, Machine Head who got the Hard Rock Hero statue. During the ceremony K.K. exchanged greetings with the guys and you can expect a full feature covering this great band soon!
Meanwhile the meters at the Mill were pushing red as Finland’s heavy metal pioneers Tarot arrived for a visit, their guitarist Zachary Hietala was happy to answer some the questions prepared for him. Read the full report from the interview-section! More high-octane Tarot is on offer at the reviews-area with looks into their latest opus “Crows Fly Black” and Steel Mill Klassik-album “Follow Me Into Madness.” Furthermore, a review-section includes a peek on Savatage guitarist Chris Caffery’s latest solo effort.
A new set of questions and answers from fans is also up and be sure to check out other updates at Discography, Fan Forge, Biography and link page. And remember, the winner of the huge competition will be announced right here very soon...
More updates are on the way, keep the metal faith!- K.K. Downing & The Steel Mill Web Team -
August 2007
K.K. Gets Sturm Und Dranged!
Saturday 25th of August marked a special day for the Steel Mill. After picking up the Kerrang! Hall Of Fame award with rest of Judas Priest K.K. flew to Finland for a Steel Mill production meeting. During the afternoon, an electrifying jam session with tribute band Priestone took place in Tuusula. Some classic Priest material got airing and footage will appear on these pages later!
From there we drove couple of hours to Salo, a small Finnish town nearby Turku where VRock Festival was full on. On main stage at around 7 PM Sturm Und Drang – a new, young metal sensation from Finland was scheduled to appear. The 15-16 aged SUD members all being great Priest fans were thrilled to meet their hero and to top it off K.K. joined them on stage for an encore! Sturm Und Drang featuring K.K. Downing played a storming version of “Breaking The Law” for the enthusiastic crowd. There was history in the making as this was the first time ever K.K. appeared on stage with any other group than Judas Priest.
Download the exclusive video of the performance from here (wmv, 15,8 Mb)!
In between all this, plenty of new features for the Steel Mill were set up so expect more fuel on the engines very soon. Stay tuned!
- K.K. Downing & The Steel Mill Web Team -
August 20th 2007
Throughout the soft and,
timeless days of August...
Summer shows no signs of ending and Steel Mill continues to grind in overdrive!
We had another visitor recently as legendary metal vocalist Ralf Scheepers dropped by at the mill to discuss Priest, upcoming Primal Fear album, high pitched singing and many other issues. Check it out at the Interview-section!
Another exciting Fan Profile is now up with pictures and exclusive demo samples.
K.K. provides a new blog and his usual Q&A for August. Plus we have a truckload of updates in Discography, Judas Pix, Articles, Fan Forge and a brand new festival review by Steel Mill’s Kassu. So dig in!
In related news, the K.K. Downing sculpture is now available for pre-order through KnuckleBonz Inc.! The sculpture can be ordered individually or as tandem with Glenn Tipton figure for discount. Statues appear with their signature Hamer® guitars. For more info check out: www.knucklebonz.com/priest_tandem.html.
Also as quick reminder, previously announced competition is still going strong so submit your ideas to kimmo(at)kkdowning.net.
Enjoy rest of the summer and as always, keep feeding the flames!
- K.K. Downing & The Steel Mill Web Team -
July 10th 2007
Wild Nights,
Hot & Crazy Days!!
And another blazing hot update for the summer!
A huge competition has officially opened here at Steel Mill, and it will solve the mystery of the creature you may have seen lurking about on these pages. Check it out and send your suggestions to us!Fan questions and answers section is updated, thanks to all and keep sending them to the usual address. Plus K.K.’s blog for July is up on Downing Street.
We take a look back to 27 years to the immortal “British Steel” and “Steeler” on the fourth part of The Fuel of the Furnace column.
Also check out discography, secrets and monthly recommendations. All include exciting new stuff!
And as promised expect the full K.K. Downing pdf-biography to be unleashed here soon. Millworkers have punched the clock overtime and the furnace is spewing out the new fiery edition as we speak.As the hottest days of summer are upon us, the factory at the Mill is forging the fire harder than ever. Stay tuned for more and defend the faith!
- K.K. Downing & The Steel Mill Web Team -
June 6th 2007
Turisas In the Flames!
The Finnish warriors Turisas have just paid a visit to Steel Mill, as the band are about to launch their long awaited second album we had a lot to talk about. Check the results out at the Interview-section!
May 19th 2007
Get your own K.K. Downing Rock Icons Sculpture!
Do you want to rock your heart out with Priest-music under K.K.’s watchful eye? It will soon be possible through KnuckleBonz Inc.
K.K. Downing sculpture is an officially licensed figure and is only available as a limited edition 3000 quantity worldwide. Each figure is hand-painted and hand-numbered and has a certificate of authenticity.
The Sculpture will be available for pre-order in the up-coming weeks and is scheduled to ship in late 2007. We’ll keep you updated and for more info check out:
http://www.knucklebonz.com/kkdowning.htm.
May 2007
You’ve got another
Update coming!
Summertime is approaching rapidly and with summer as always, come the festival season. Once again, the giants of metal are taking the stage all across the globe. Steel Mill will be forging the flames in full power all through next sunny months with several features coming near you soon! But let us go back to the past where it all began: The first ever Monsters of Rock Festival at Donington Park, U.K. The time was August, 1980 and the bands played on. Steel Mill brings you a full feature on that special day, along with rare pictures and memorabilia plus K.K.'s comments.
The red hot machinery has produced another set of fan questions and answers from K.K. at the Downing Street section. Thanks again and keep sending your questions via e-mail to questions(at)kkdowning.net.
K.K's blog for May is up on Downing Street, as well as third part of The Fuel of the Furnace.
We also deliver new interview this month, another Priest-tribute band gets coverage as we take US rockers Xciter through the Steel Mill grinder. More updates can be found on Fan Forge, Judas Pix, Articles and Discography. Check them out! And you can send your Priest pics and related stuff vial e-mail to fanforge(at)kkdowning.net.
Stay hard, as always feed the flames and we will see you in the blazing hot summer of 2007!
- K.K. Downing & The Steel Mill Web Team -
April 2007
New updates!
For the past week the blazing hot furnaces of the Steel Mill have been pounding hard and heavy to bring some flaming updates for the site. We are proud to say there's plenty to offer so let us begin:
First off, Thank You to everyone for all the great questions! You can view the first blast of answers here. Keep sending your questions for K.K.!
K.K.'s blog for April is up on Downing Street. Also K.K. hooked up with the legendary Magnum vocalist Bob Catley recently, check out the full interview and pictures from the meeting! We have a look at Catley's classic solo album “The Tower” in the review section. Magnum also have a new album out as we speak, the review is featured here as well. Another new interview starring Hungarian tribute band Judas Beast and their vocalist Metal Angel can be located here.
The next part of The Fuel of the Furnace column with K.K.'s comments is up on the Special Reports- section. The first Steel Mill Fan Profile has also been signed, sealed and delivered.
Further updates include articles, discography, scrapbook, secrets, Fan Forge, monthly recommendations and a lot more so step into the fire!
The Steel Mill continues grinding, keep feeding the flames!
- K.K. Downing & The Steel Mill Web Team -
March 2007
K.K.'s personal message
to everyone
Thank You, Thank you, Thank you!!!
For all of your great complements and comments about the Steel Mill!
Wow! What a week!
Just 7 days now since our launch of the mill and your intense feedback has made both me and the workers at the mill extremely happy.
As you probably know by now the site was launched last Friday but crashed into oblivion on Saturday, the good news is that this was caused by so many metal fans trying to access the site; this resulted in the mill workers having to work through the night to restore the mill back to normal. I am pleased to say that they did an excellent job.
It has been especially rewarding for me to read all of your letters from around the world, and to feel the great sense of unification between us all.
So please keep letting us have your feedback, as your input is essential for us to ensure the optimum output from the Mill.Here is to a great second week, please keep feeding the flames!!!
- Regards K.K -
March 2007
Steel Mill operating again!Due to huge traffic on the website during this weekend, the meters of Steel Mill's server were blazing red hot and machines overloaded with heat. To maintain operations we added more fuel to the furnace and everything was moved to to a bigger capacity server. With full production power now restored, things should work smoothly from now on. Steel Mill's popularity has exceeded all our expectations, so big thanks goes to all of You, Priest and metal fans!
Keep on logging in and feed the flames!
- K.K. Downing & The Steel Mill Web Team -
March 2007
Gates Of the
Steel Mill Have Opened!
We are very proud to unleash the new K.K. Downing Steel Mill web site! We believe there are plenty of interesting and cool stuff to be found herein for all K.K.- and Judas Priest- fans. More updates are on the way and work continues to make this an essential stopgap for every web browsing metal head.
Please feel free to send us feedback via mail or our guestbook. Keep feeding the flames!
March 2007
New K.K. Downing interviewsTwo brand new K.K. Downing interviews are now available exclusively on this site, first ”The Cool Guy Of Metal” by Ville Krannila and second “In Depth Guitar Interview” by Marco Schmellentin. Check ‘em out at the Interviews-section!
March 2007
New Judas Priest album
K.K. and rest of Judas Priest are currently hard at work finishing their latest metal masterpiece, a concept album focused on the life of Nostradamus. The release is expected later in 2007 with naturally a massive world tour to follow. Check www.JudasPriest.com for latest news.
March 2007
Exclusive K.K. Downing biography coming soon
Stay tuned for Steel Mill's upcoming exclusive K.K. biography, written by Ville Krannila and compiled as a ready-to-print full colour pdf-booklet by Kassu Kortelainen & Pete Alander. Meanwhile, enjoy the shorter version of the biography at Steel Mill's bio -section! Only available on this site!
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