In a spot of unexpected yet most welcome New Wave of British Heavy Metal related news – I’m hearing that the excellent Saracen have a live album in the can with a release pencilled in for early 2026 – which is just a few weeks from today (26th December2025).
It is titled Crusader. I’m guessing it’ll be out via Escape Music as the artwork looks to be in a very similar style to the re-releases of Saracen’s Red Sky and Vox in Excelso which were both via Escape earlier this year.
A further clue suggesting Escape being that I believe Crusader will have a limited edition vinyl version in addition to the CD.
They’ve done the same with the Red Sky and Vox reissues and also the recent run of Bob Catley solo albums.
Of course it might not be an Escape Music release, then again it might be. Don’t know at time of posting.
Another guess is that as the title is Crusader – the title of the opening track on Heroes, Saints and Fools – Saracen’s majestic debut album from 1981 – the set list may lean towards that album perhaps with such classics as Horsemen of the Apocalypse, the title track and Ready to Fly.
Whilst not exactly being prolific over the years, Saracen remain a band with a solid cult following and do pop up here and there. Indeed – I was fortunate enough to see them appear at a small venue in Chesterfield three and a half years or so ago and they were magnificent.
As a Saracen admirer from the debut onwards, I’m chomping at the bit for full details, release date and ordering information and will of course be snapping a copy up immediately.
It’s been a long time since Saracen’s last album, which was Redemption back around 2014. To have this live album to look forward to hopefully in a few weeks is tremendous.
In the meantime – here’s the studio version of Crusader from that glorious 1981 debut album.
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