Metal
Nuclear Blast
Release Date – May 26th 2023
Line Up:
Ronnie Romero – Vocals
Richie Faulkner – Guitar
Dave Rimmer – Bass
Christopher Williams – Drums
Studio –
Rex Brown – Bass
Tracklist:
1 – Dead Man Walking
2 – Do Or Die
3 – Blind Leading The Blind
4 – Ghost Of You
5 – Bitter Pill
6 – Lights Out
7 – Horns For A Halo
8 – Dirty Pig
9 – White Horse
10 Downfall Rising
Elegant Weapons – a Metal super group of sorts. Let’s just stop and say well done to medical science because without it and a bit of luck guitarist Richie Faulkner would not be around to have produced this white-hot slab of metal. Man, this is good. Classic metal/heavy rock with influences from Rainbow, Dio, Judas Priest (obvs!), and UFO. All knew how to rock but all had shed loads of excellent melodies.
Photo Credit: Matt Owent
It’s a fairly understated start with the heavy melodic ‘Dead Man Walking’ before the rapid ‘Do Or Die’ which is driven along by Christopher Williams’s double kick and some Schenker-like riffery from Faulkner. Ronnie Romero shows just why he is the go-to man for vocals at the moment. This guy can sing anything, and to my ears, he sounds a lot like the sadly departed Steve Lee from Gotthard. We get some excellent boogie metal on ‘Blind Leading The Blind’ before the truer blues of the immense ‘Ghost Of You’ and a right royal stomper with ‘Bitter Pill’. We get an awesome cover of UFO’s ‘Lights Out’ which sounds heavier and doesn’t have those keyboard ‘wooshes’ on the original but by crikey it rocks like a bastard. The title track is a sinister Priest-like banger and ultimately shows why the kings of metal chose Faulkner to replace KK Downing. Dark and heavy with a kick like a Suffolk Punch dray horse. We get some more sleazy boogie with ‘Bitter Pill’ then it’s southern epic time on ‘White Horse’ before more Priest heaviness on the final cut ‘Downfall Rising’.
I cannot adequately put into words just how good this record is. It’s metal, it’s rock, it’s blues. It blisters and bristles with a real live feel thanks to the masterful production from Andy Sneap. The songs are superbly written and played by world-class musicians but there’s a real band unity amongst them like they’ve been together forever. Faulkner’s riffs and solos are some of the best I’ve heard and of course, Romero brings his usual stellar performance. You need this record! It’s the best of the classic style metal with a modern sound. Absolutely fantastic, can’t wait for the tour!
Written by: Smudge
Ratings: 10/10
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