ELEGANT WEAPONS – Continuous Evolution

May 14, 2026   »   interview

text: Kiss Daniella   
»   photo: Jeremiah Scott

Elegant Weapons’ second album, Evolution, lives up to its title. With a line-up drawn from Judas Priest, Rainbow, Uriah Heep and Accept, the new record captures a band coming fully into its own, sounding tighter, bolder and more cohesive than before, while pushing its blend of classic and modern heavy metal even further. Above all, it proves Elegant Weapons are not just a meeting of seasoned names, but a band with a distinct identity. We caught up with Richie Faulkner, the creative force behind it, to discuss the making of the new album, the road ahead for the band, and some intriguing details of the next Judas Priest record. Exciting times for you, with the new Elegant Weapons album coming out on April 24. Did this record come together more instinctively than the first one, or was it a more deliberate process this time around? „I think it was a bit of both, really. Whenever we’re working — and it’s the same with Priest — we’re always thinking ahead and working for the future, and the Elegant Weapons record was approached in the same way. Because we’re all involved with different bands, we have to plan well in advance and stay ahead of schedule. Christopher Williams is in Accept, Davey Rimmer is in Uriah Heep, Ronnie has his own commitments, and I’ve obviously got plenty going on as well, so we knew from the start that we had to begin early. At the same time, though, it came together in a more natural way than the first one. The first record was done during COVID, and it was all put together separately, whereas this time Christopher, Davey and I were able to get together and record the drums as a unit. We did that very early, in 2023, because we already knew that Invincible Shield was coming out in 2024 and that Priest would be touring through 2024 and 2025, so we had to get started well in advance. Then, during those tours, we put down the guitars, the bass and the vocals. Ronnie was in Europe in his own studio, Andy Sneap was in England in his, and I was in Nashville in mine, so even though we were in different places, we were still able to work together digitally. I think that made for a better, more cohesive record. We do the same thing with Priest as well: we try to think ahead so everything is ready in time for the next go-round.” When you look at this album compared to the first one, what do you feel has changed the most — not just musically, but in your mindset as a writer? „I think, as musicians and songwriters, you’re always trying to do better. Whatever band you’re in, or whatever instrument you play, you’re always trying to come up with a better song, a better performance or a better solo — whatever it might be. We think we have, of course, but in the end that’s for the audience to decide. There are a few things on this record that we didn’t really do on the first one. For example, there’s a proper ballad on it dealing with a more emotional subject. I think this album shows a different side of the band, and that’s partly why we called it Evolution. Other than that, as I said, we recorded it differently, and the line-up has changed as well, which is an evolution of sorts in itself. I think that shows a different side of the band. There are also a couple of songs where Adam Wakeman plays keyboards, so we’re still finding out who we are as a band and evolving. That’s really why we called it what we did.” What’s something on this album that you might not have had the confidence to do a few years ago? „The ballad is definitely one of them. This type of ballad is about a relationship that’s breaking down, and I think we’ve all been there. Everyone can relate to that kind of experience, where you might be with somebody, but you know you’re drifting apart. You don’t want to admit it, but you can feel them slipping away. When you deal with something like that, it becomes a personal thing, even though I think everyone has gone through it in one way or another. It’s also the kind of subject that doesn’t normally have a place on a heavy metal album, so it just felt appropriate to put it on this record. It felt right. I’d had that chorus for a long time, and I’d tried it in different formats and different ways of recording it, but it had never really worked. This time, though, it came together well. I thought Ronnie gave a great performance on it, the band sounded strong, Adam’s keyboards worked really well, and it all came together in a way that really put across the sentiment of what the song is about. That’s why we decided to put it on this one.” When you’re writing, how quickly do you know whether an idea belongs to Elegant Weapons or Judas Priest? Have there ever been moments where that wasn’t immediately obvious? „Luckily, it’s pretty obvious. We know what Priest sounds like — it’s a classic sound that we’ve known for decades now. We’re still trying to find our identity, but I do think Elegant Weapons has its own distinctive style as well. When I did the first album, I wanted it to be different from Priest. Otherwise, there’s not much point. If it was just a record that sounded like Priest, there’d be no reason to do it, because we already do that with Priest. (laughs) So fortunately, Elegant Weapons does sound like its own thing. When I’m writing riffs and putting songs together, it’s usually pretty obvious whether something belongs to Priest or to Elegant Weapons. There is some overlap in the middle, though. The ballads are usually the ones that can go either way. With this ballad, for example, I think it could have gone to either Priest or Weapons. I actually had a version of it with Rob singing, but for whatever reason it didn’t work. Then there are songs like The Devil Calls on this record, or Do or Die on the first one, which have a bit more of that ’80s metal influence, so there is a little bit of crossover. That’s always going to be there, because I write with Priest as well.”

You co-produced the album with Andy Sneap. Is there anything he brings out of you creatively that you might not push yourself to do on your own? „Not really, to be honest. On the guitar stuff, he kind of leaves me to it. He’ll suggest things here and there, though. On the ballad, for example, there’s an acoustic guitar part, which was his suggestion — and I don’t really like acoustic guitar, so that was definitely something he brought to it. He was also keen to get a stronger production out of Ronnie on this record, so that was another thing he pushed for. But in terms of the song structures and the way the songs are laid out, he mostly leaves that to me. He’ll make a few suggestions, of course, but that side of it is largely in my hands. Where he really comes into play is with the sound of the record — the production, the mixing, the mastering, and how the album comes across as a whole. He’s very good at making the band sound cohesive, at making it feel like the four guys in the band actually played it together. This is the fourth record I’ve done with Andy now, between Priest and Weapons, and we’ve always worked well together. So when something works, there’s no reason to change it.” One thing that really stands out on this record is your solos — they feel very melodic but still powerful. Is there a solo on the new album that you’re especially proud of, or that you really enjoyed working on? „I’ve always been a fan of melody and melodic solos, and I think Priest has always had that as well. There have always been fast, technical solos too, of course, but a lot of it is about melody, and I’ve always been attracted to that in a big way. There’s a song called Keeper of the Keys, which is the last song on the record, and it has a very Rainbow- and Deep Purple-type feel. You have to listen to what the song is telling you, and when I was working on that one, it felt like it needed a Ritchie Blackmore-type guitar solo. So you listen to the song, and you try to give it what it needs. I like that one because it’s very melodic. It’s not especially fast or technical, but hopefully it helps tell the story of the song and matches the feel of it. I always like it when a solo does that. So I’d say that one, and Generation Me as well. Again, I think it just suits the track. Any solo that really fits the song, I tend to like.” Do your best solos usually come from the first take, or do you normally have to work through them quite a bit before they feel right? „That’s a great question. It depends, really. Some of them are never right on the first take, but the idea might be in there. Sometimes you play something for the first time and an idea or a structure comes out subconsciously. You play it without really thinking, and even if it’s not played particularly well, there’s something in it that feels right. Then the next step is trying to make that idea into something you can really play properly and with intent. That happens quite a lot. Other times, I’ll play it four or five times, see which parts jump out, which parts sound good, put those together, and then try to play it all the way through in that form. So it really depends. It’s never quite the same. Some of them are worked out, some of them are more spontaneous, and some are a mixture of the two. It can happen in all sorts of different ways, really.” Do you have any plans for an Elegant Weapons tour, or is that something you’re still putting together? „That’s probably the biggest challenge we have, as you can imagine. With everyone’s schedule, getting everybody aligned and free at the same time is one of the hardest things. Priest is out in the summer, obviously, so we’re going to look at putting some dates together after that, whether that’s in Europe, the US or wherever they’ll have us. So we are working on it, and as soon as we do have some dates confirmed, we’ll let everyone know. It’ll all go up on the socials, so people will hear about it as soon as there’s something to announce.” You’re also working on the new Judas Priest album. How far along is it now, and what can fans expect from it? „We’ve started recording it, but we haven’t finished tracking it yet, so there’s still more to do. Andy and I are heading out to do some vocals with Rob next week, so we’ll see where that goes. But the foundation is laid: we’ve recorded the drums, bass, guitars and guitar solos, and now we’ve got to get the vocals down. We’ve actually been writing it since 2024. As I said earlier, we always have to think ahead and work with the future in mind, so we started putting ideas together while we were out on the road with Invincible Shield. I had a guitar in the hotel room and was coming up with riffs and bits and pieces there, so we’ve been working on it for a while. It’s well underway and we’re making good progress. We don’t have a release date yet, and we’ve still got to see how things go with Mr. Halford on vocals. But it’s sounding great — sounding like classic Priest. Beyond that, I can’t really say much more without getting into trouble.” (laughs) Has Glenn Tipton been involved with the new record in any way? „I just got back from the UK yesterday, and I saw Glenn on Friday. We were going through some riffs and demos he had to see whether he could potentially be involved in the process. We were listening through Glenn’s ideas, and obviously he’s limited in terms of what he can play now, but he’s still got material. As I was saying earlier, sometimes riffs take a long time to find a home and eventually end up on a record, so there’s some stuff he’s had from the past — things he’s kept on the computer — that we were listening to, along with some solo ideas as well. So we were definitely listening to some of his ideas, and he seemed to be in good spirits. He said that if we can use any of them, that would be great, but he doesn’t want us to use them out of pity or for sentimental reasons. He wants us to use them because we genuinely like his ideas. He just wants to be involved in some way, so we’ll keep listening through the material, see what we’ve got, and hopefully we can find something that makes the album.” Looking ahead, is there still something you really want to achieve as a musician that you haven’t done yet? „I’ve been really lucky, obviously, joining Priest and with everything I’ve done since then. I’ve also got my own band alongside that, which I’m incredibly grateful for as well. I think with Elegant Weapons, one thing I’d really like to do is have all of us writing and recording together in the same place, with Ronnie as well. This time around, we had Adam Wakeman on keyboards, and we also had Jared James Nichols playing guitar on one of the tracks, which makes me think I’d maybe like to bring another player in — perhaps a guitarist or keyboard player who can sing as well — and make the band bigger live. Maybe that’s the next evolution of the band. But in terms of what I’d still like to achieve, putting this band together was really a way of trying to reach that dream of building something of our own, the way Priest did. They started a band from nothing, worked their way up, built the sound, built the fanbase, built the records, and everything they achieved from there — that has to be one of the greatest achievements there is. So just to have the chance to do that with our own band is really all I can hope for. Anything that helps us move towards that is what I’d like to achieve, and whatever it takes, we’re going to try to do it.” Lastly, do you have a fond memory of Budapest, or is there something you particularly enjoy when you’re here? „Yeah, Budapest is where Sziget Festival is, right? I was there years and years ago with Lauren Harris, and I actually got my nose pierced at Sziget. I remember the guy came out smoking a cigarette, put it down, picked up the needle and pierced my nose in one go. At the time, I thought, “That’s it — my nose is going to fall off.” Luckily, it didn’t. (laughs) So that’s definitely one memory that stuck with me. It was a great festival, and I’m pretty sure we played Sziget with Priest as well. I also seem to remember Britney Spears playing, although I might be mixing that up. (laughs) Either way, I’ve got great memories of it, and we’re coming back to Hungary in the summer, which I can’t wait for. See you all there!”

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