Elegant Weapons - the new band featuring Judas priest guitarist Richie Faulkner, alongside Rainbow singer Ronnie Romero,, Uriah Heep bassist Dave Rimmer, and Accept drummer Christopher Williams - will release their debut full-length, Horns For A Halo (produced by Faulkner’s Priest bandmate, Andy Sneap and featuring album performances by Pantera’s Rex Brown and Judas Priest's Scott Travis), on May 26 via Nuclear Blast Records. 

Faulkner recently spoke with Sweden's Rock Sverige about the release. Following is an excerpt from the interview.

Q: Putting together an album like this, does that include a little bit more of artistic freedom since Judas Priest is what it is?

Faulkner: "Judas Priest has always allowed me the freedom writing with them. There´s like no limitations really in what we put forward as ideas, but I understand what you mean. If you´re writing for a band that´s got a 50 year career and a fan base that been there for 50 years, you do think about those things. In this band, my priority was to not sound like Priest. I wanted it to sound like its own thing and having its own character. Obviously that DNA is in there, but if it sounded like a Priest record there wouldn´t be any point. As I said, Priest give me that opportunity to create music with Priest for Priest, so there would be no point. As long as it had its own character and identity, that was an important thing for me and I think it does."

Q: Have you played anything for Rob (Halford) or Glen (Tipton) or Ian (Hill)?

Faulkner: "Yeah, I played some stuff for Rob early on in the process and he dug it. He got where I was coming from and he was really excited about it. He digs it and I think they hear maybe the DNA in there and they knew I was gonna do it and some point. Hopefully I don´t get a phone call saying 'What are you doing?'"

Q: If you were to pick a Judas Priest album, not naming the albums you play on, but is there an album you could single out as your favorite?

Faulkner: "Yeah, my favorite Priest album is Defenders Of The Faith (1984). We were talking about how we perceive things differently, for me it was that experience of being taken somewhere else. What the songs were about. 'The Sentinel', it took you to a different place. You could almost see some of these songs and the stories they were telling. I like that experience and I got that from Somewhere In Time (1986) from Iron Maiden, Master Of Puppets (1986) from Metallica. For me it´s always been Defenders Of The Faith. Obviously I´ve got a different relationship with the songs on the albums I´ve created with the band."

Read the complete interview here.

Pre-order the album here.

Tracklisting:

"Dead Man Walking"
"Do Or Die"
"Blind Leading The Blind"
"Ghost Of You"
"Bitter Pill"
"Lights Out"
"Horns For A Halo"
"Dirty Pig"
"White Horse"
"Downfall Rising"

“Do Or Die” video:

"Blind Leading The Blind" video:

Elegant Weapons will soon be hitting the road in Europe, beginning in June and running through July, which will include performances with Pantera, festival appearances, and also headlining their own shows. Tickets to the shows can be purchased here.

“We are very much looking forward to touring and our first tour dates are taking place in Europe starting in June 2023. Fans can expect heavy songs with catchy melodies, great vocals and lots of riffs! We all live to play live, and can’t wait to take the Elegant Weapons out onto the live stage.”

Tour dates:

June
12 - Czech Republic - O2 Arena (With Pantera)
13 - Berlin, Germany - Verti (With Pantera)
16 - Clisson, France - Hellfest
18 - Dessel, Belgium - Graspop Metal Meeting
20 - Amsterdam, Netherlands - Afas (With Pantera)
21 - Hamburg, Germany - Edel Optics (With Pantera)
23 - Zurich, Switzerland - Komplex
25 - Murcia, Spain - Rock Imperium Festival
26 - Madrid, Spain - Mon Club
28 - Lisbon, Portugal - Evil Live  Festival
29 - Viveiro, Spain - Resurrection Festival

July
2 - Bologna, Italy - Return Of The Gods Festival
30 - Ebbw Vale, UK - Steelhouse Festival