ALBUM REVIEW: Horns For A Halo – Elegant Weapons

Richie Faulkner is stepping out on his own. The man who replaced K.K. Downing in JUDAS PRIEST over a decade ago – and can also cite VOODOO SIX on his CV alongside work for Lauren Harris (daughter of MAIDEN‘s Steve) and the late, great Christopher Lee – has been beavering away for many a year at his insurance policy; the career continuation when the Metal Gods hang up their respective instruments and studded, leather jackets. ELEGANT WEAPONS hasn’t had the easiest of births, given Faulkener‘s other commitments and a brush with death in the autumn of 2021 following an onstage aortic aneurysm, but it’s finally time. With the recording line-up completed by RAINBOW and LORDS OF BLACK frontman Ronnie Romero, PANTERA bassist Rex Brown, and PRIEST drummer Scott Travis, the group’s debut release Horns For A Halo arrives on May 26th via Nuclear Blast.

Although the whole line up is star-studded – and this extends to the touring outfit, with Brown and Travis replaced by URIAH HEEP bassist David Rimmer and ACCEPT drummer Chris Williams respectively – this is Faulkner‘s baby and, as the band’s website proudly proclaims, the idea behind the band is to “keep flying the flag for this style of timeless heavy metal.” By ‘this style’, they mean the classic sound of the 80s brought forward for the current generation; on that front, job well done. You only need to listen to lead single, the driving Blind Leading The Blind, to get a very good idea of what Horns For A Halo sounds like in its full grandeur: a monolithic opening riff supplemented by a ridiculously catchy chorus that will cause feet to tap and heads to bang in a live setting… it’s the NWBOHM through and through.

Naturally, ELEGANT WEAPONS are wearing their influences on their collective sleeves – there’s a healthy dose of SABBATH in both opening track Bitter Pill and Dirty Pig while most recent single Do Or Die hurtles in with the pace of MOTÖRHEAD, a guitar lick straight out of SAXON‘s scrapbook and a mid-song guitar passage that would have IRON MAIDEN nodding in approval. Dead Man Walking is where Faulkner‘s twelve years in PRIEST show themselves most effectively – there’s a lot of the band’s latter day output contained here – and the penultimate track is a faithful cover of UFO‘s excellent Lights Out, albeit in a different key. Yet, there’s also a hint of where the band could go in the slower and cleaner Ghost Of You, with Romero hitting the more expansive chorus so high that one can even hear a glimpse of AEROSMITH among the strains.

With ELEGANT WEAPONS, Richie Faulkner has set out to give himself a natural continuum to JUDAS PRIEST; mission most definitely accomplished. Across nearly a full hour of riffs and fist-pumping, classic metal, Horns For A Halo is the sound of a seasoned guitarist, until now just another name in a line-up, walking into the spotlight and delivering at the first time of asking. With summer just around the corner, this is the feelgood throwback album the season deserves.

Rating: 8/10

Horns For A Halo is set for release on May 26th via Nuclear Blast Records.

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