Saxon

Saxon begins recording for their new (23rd!) album.

These guys never stops. Admirations! And Biff is seems to recover fast, great news.

 
I agree. Every other album since The Last Sanctum has really been unremarkable for me. Into the Labyrinth, Sacrifice, and Thunderbolt are probably three of the blandest metal albums I've heard in my life.

On the flip side of that, the aforementioned The Inner Sanctum is quite flavorful and has some pretty good atmospheric bits reminiscent of Lionheart (a great album, probably their best outside the 80's stuff). Call to Arms works really well as modern day NWOBHM album. Some really wonderful stuff on there like the opening track and Ballad of the Working Man. Battering Ram I found to be quite good as well and thrashy in parts. Also that album had possibly the biggest power metal flavor since Lionheart.
 
Last edited:
@Kalata I would be interested to know what some of your favorite "modern day" Saxon albums (everything post-Dogs of War I guess) are. I see you that you like them quite a bit and seem to hold some of their more recent outputs in high regard. Post Dogs of War, I don't listen to much outside of Unleash the Beast, Lionheart, The Inner Sanctum, Call to Arms, and Battering Ram.
 
@Kalata I would be interested to know what some of your favorite "modern day" Saxon albums (everything post-Dogs of War I guess) are. I see you that you like them quite a bit and seem to hold some of their more recent outputs in high regard. Post Dogs of War, I don't listen to much outside of Unleash the Beast, Lionheart, The Inner Sanctum, Call to Arms, and Battering Ram.

I do not hold their more recent outputs in that high regard (especially in comparison with their classic stuff from the 80's).....

My favorite album (post-Dogs Of War) is probably Unleashed The Beast - at first I thought this album was weak and boy, I was wrong. When I listened to it a couple of months earlier, I was surprised that I didn't like it from first listen... though I haven't listened to this album in a while. Other good albums are: Killing Ground, The Inner Sanctum and Sacrifice (*but not as a whole albums like it is the case with Unleashed The Beast).
 
Hi there. You can try listening to:
-Rock the nations.
-Forever free.
-Unleash the beast.
-Metalhead.

Hi there. You can try listening to: Wheels Of Steel, Strong Arm Of The Law and Denim And Leather :p

Rock The Nations - Side one is amazing (+ the last song).
Forever Free - only the title track, Iron Wheels, Can't Stop Rockin' and One Step Away are worth it.
Unleashed The Beast - great album from start to finish.
Metalhead - only two good songs: Conquistador and Sea Of Life.
 
Hi there. You can try listening to: Wheels Of Steel, Strong Arm Of The Law and Denim And Leather :p

Rock The Nations - Side one is amazing (+ the last song).
Forever Free - only the title track, Iron Wheels, Can't Stop Rockin' and One Step Away are worth it.
Unleashed The Beast - great album from start to finish.
Metalhead - only two good songs: Conquistador and Sea Of Life.
Great live band.
 
The first solo album from Biff will be called School Of Hard Knocks.

It will be released in early 2020. The first single, ''Welcome To The Show'' will be released next Friday..../ the second single (which will be the title track) will be released in December.

 
Well there is a lyric video available for one of the tracks from Biff’s solo album. Pretty decent tune on first listen I thought, but really not much different from Saxon, so not sure why he needed to complete a solo album to release something like this.



 
It's a good song, but indeed it sounds like Saxon (Wheels Of Steel-era). Probably the other songs are going to be different (he said that the album will contain a ballad, because he is a big Journey fan) - the album will contain 11 songs and it will be released in February 21 next year.

Biff says the album is mix of metal and rock songs.../ one song is prog metal - it will be called ''The Pit And The Pendulum'' (he is a big prog metal fan). The album will contain spoken-word introduction - called ''Inquisitor'' (about the Spanish Inquisition). The album also will contain two cover songs:

- Thrown Down The Sword by Wishbone Ash
- Scarborough Fair by Simon & Garfunkel

School Of Hard Knocks tracklist:

1.Welcome To The Show
2.School Of Hard Knocks
3.Inquisitor
4.The Pit And The Pendulum
5.Worlds Collide
6.Scarborough Fair
7.Pedal To The Metal
8.Hearts Of Steel
9.Throw Down The Sword
10.Me And You
11.Black And White

The album cover is curious:
 

Attachments

  • 5db1bdaf81d86.jpg
    5db1bdaf81d86.jpg
    236 KB · Views: 6
Last edited:
Biff Byford is doing a solo tour of England and Scotland if anybody cares:

April 17 - Gateshead Sage 2
April 18 - Birmingham Town Hall
April 20 - Glasgow St Lukes
April 21 - Leeds City Varieties
April 22 - Bristol St Georges
April 24 - Liverpool Arts Club
April 25 - Aberdare Coliseum Theatre
April 27 - Milton Keynes Stables
April 28 - London Islington Assembly Hall
April 29 - Brighton Old Market
 
I'm quite interested in going along to one of those shows, apparently half spoken word and half music. I'd imagine he'll have a few good tales to tell.
 
Back
Top