The first live album from Saracen. And it’s majestic stuff.
That timeless debut album of theirs – Heroes, Saints and Fools, from the New Wave of British Heavy Metal days in 1981 set Saracen apart as they brought something different with the progged-up synths in with the rapier-like riffs and soaring solos giving a sense of the dramatic and slightly mystic.
And nothing’s changed over the years despite a sporadic album output and long absences yet each one is top quality.
This live album has the band on top form. Most of it recorded at the band’s appearance at the Tower of Fire festival in 2024 and the remainder from Real Time Live, Chesterfield in 2022.
Saracen storm through nine tracks (eight of you opt for one of the limited edition vinyl copies) with each one probably as you may expect. All of Heroes, Saints and Fools bar Dolphin Ride, Follow the Piper from Red Sky, We Have Arrived (sounds more like the Red Sky version rather than that on Change of Heart) and Swords of Damascus (not on the limited edition vinyl version).
Crusader starts things off with that synth stab and atmospherics with Steve Bettney’s high pitched screams before the cutting riffage starts and everything kicks off. Rock of Ages follows for a quick one-two punch.
The whole thing is marvellous. Those synth runs and swirls are trademark Saracen. How they keys mix in and alternative with the guitars is superb. The riffs are controlled yet powerful as as the solos which are full of tone and feeling.
The drumming is crisp and the bass fluid and solid. Steve Bettney’s been there since the old days. His voice still so smooth and effective and he’s retained the ability to hit those highest of high notes when called for.
If you’re familiar with Saracen you’ll already know what to expect. If you’re not familiar with them – why not start with Crusader?
The performance captured is powerful and has a raw, authentic feel to it. By that I mean it doesn’t sound like it may have been, er, “augmented” with too much studio wizardry during production.
The highlight for me is Swords of Damascus. A song written back way back though didn’t appear on record until the Redemption album in 2014.
Here’s Saracen performing Swords of Damascus at that Chesterfield gig in 2022. As per Bettney’s introduction, the first time they’d performed it live for forty years. And I was there…..!
Saracen do pop up with the occasional concert here and there. Catch them if you have the opportunity.
Thanks to Escape Music for issuing this. I ordered my copy directly from them:
https://www.escape-music.com
And there’s always Amazon if you prefer:
https://amzn.to/4lqffR6
Last year Escape reissued Saracen’s Red Sky and Vox in Excelso albums. Check them out too.
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