Interview by Kris Peters
There are supergroups in this world, and then there are groups of musicians that have such a good pedigree even the term (which I incidentally hate) Supergroup is not enough.
One such band is undoubtedly Elegant Weapons - comprised of guitarist Richie Faulkner (Judas Priest), vocalist Ronnie Romero (Rainbow), drummer Christopher Williams (Accept) and bass player Dave Rimmer (Uriah Heap) - who recently released their debut album Horns For A Halo.
The album understandably combines the plethora of experience and influences inherent in all of these musicians, creating a homage to 1970s and 80s metal that can only come from the creative talents of those who lived through the era.
When you throw in that Rex Brown (bass, Pantera) and Scott Travis (drums, Judas Priest) played their parts on the recording before giving way to Williams and Rimmer in the live arena, and it becomes clearly evident just how good Elegant Weapon are.
Just by assembling a group of talented musicians a band isn't necessarily guaranteed success. It is the smaller things and nuances that bring a band together and create that magic, with Faulkner sitting down with HEAVY to discuss just that and the album in greater detail.
"It's melodic and heavy but somewhere between heavy metal and hard rock," he explained of the album.
The album has enjoyed great early success - both critically and commercially - with Faulkner admitting that even with his sustained personal success in the industry it is always a little daunting putting out new material.
"You never know," he answered. "All you can do is do your best and give it 1000%, and then you release it onto the world. It's like your kids. You do your best and then let it do its thing. It could be well received, it might not be, but you've just got to put it out there. The best thing really you can ask for is that people listen to it, they give it their opinion - and there's so many things you can listen to these days. I feel honoured really that people give us the time of day. With the internet these days you can give your opinion - good or bad - and I think that's a beautiful thing and I'm honoured to be in that position."
In the full interview, Richie talks more about the sound of Horns For A Halo, assembling the right members for the band, why he went with Brown and Travis on the album and Rimmer and Williams live, recreating a sound from the past with a modern flavour, why he chose to cover UFO's track Light's Out on the album, getting chemistry within the band and how long that took, his recent brush with death, future plans and more.