JUDAS PRIEST's RICHIE FAULKNER Featured On New EP From U.K.'s ACE MAFIA

JUDAS PRIEST guitarist Richie Faulkner is featured on the new self-titled EP from the U.K. hard rock band ACE MAFIA. Faulkner laid down his lead and rhythm guitar tracks for “Ace Mafia” before leaving the band to join JUDAS PRIEST.

Due on September 15, “Ace Mafia” was mixed and mastered by Phil Kinman, with all music recorded and written by ACE MAFIA, Bruna Agra (former drummer), Faulkner and Sam Gharbaoui (K. Ghibli‘s brother).

The EP will be officially launched on September 29 at the Big Red, one of Londonʼs premier hard rock venues.

“Ace Mafia” track listing:

01. Snakes ‘N’ Ladders
02. Face To Face
03. Stop Loss
04. Breathlessness

The video for “Snakes ‘Nʼ Ladders” can be viewed below.

After arriving in London from Argentina in 2002, Geos Letona met Faulkner via the Camden-based hard rock and metal institution METALWORKS — a rock covers band which has performed in London for over 15 years.

Geos, with Richie on board, begin to lay down some demos, but struggled to find the right voice to complement their sound. Some time passed before Geos was introduced to another local musician, Bruno “The Cat” Agra (drummer/producer), in 2007. Bruno agreed to engineer and produce Geos‘s album, but after hearing the initial ideas, was impressed enough to agree to join the band as drummer.

Geos had been friends with Kay Ghibli for a few years by this stage, and after being blown away by his incredible voice and delivery, convinced him to join. ACE MAFIA was officially born.

Their debut album, “Vicious Circle”, was independently released in 2009. However, due to touring commitments (with Lauren Harris), Richie could not fully commit to the project, and guitarist Ben Lundy was recruited as a replacement. With Richieʼs schedule later clearing, he returned to the band and ACE MAFIA toured throughout 2010 as a five-piece, having grown fond of Ben and his exceptional tea-making skills.

The band recruited the highly versatile and sought-after Jerry Sadowski in 2011 after Bruno emigrated. However, the band went on a temporary hiatus after Faulkner landed his dream gig with the legendary JUDAS PRIEST.

After a meeting in January 2018, the band felt that the time was right to once again bring ACE MAFIA‘s brand of heavy, grungy rock to the masses and reformed with a renewed vigor and intensity.

ACE MAFIA is:

Ben Lundy – Lead guitar
K. Ghibli – Rhythm guitar, Vocals
Jerry Sadowski – Drums
Geos Letona – Bass, Backing Vocals