New Wave of British Heavy Metal originals Saxon continue their long career with Carpe Diem. For a spot of context…….I’ve never taken to Saxon over the years.
That goes back to the early 1980s when I thought they were a bit too cheesy with stuff like Denim and Leather, Wheels of Steel and similar.
Can’t deny back then they certainly played to their audience and made a good fist of it. Just wasn’t something I found appealing musically and I’ve swerved them ever since.
That was until a few days ago when on ordering the new one from Praying Mantis (Katharis) good old Amazon being sharp like they are presented Carpe Diem alongside so I thought I’d take a punt on it.
Whilst the Praying Mantis is a disappointment (review here) I have been most pleasantly surprised about how good Carpe Diem is after my being dismissive of Saxon for the last forty odd years.
Carpe Diem is a huge album of stunningly powerful heaviness with considerable finesse impeccably performed and produced.
Monster crashing, slashing, punching, gut-busting riffs, scorching solos everywhere. A thunderous drumming show from Nigel Glockler and legendary front man Biff Byford has the pipes and vocal power of a bloke half his age.
Skilful heaviness from start to finish. The opener and title track is a monster all of its own. Brutal riffs, face-melting solos and Biff belting it out with lyrics around Hadrian’s Wall and the Roman occupation. Brilliant.
It’s probably not “cool” to write a heavy metal song about steam trains. Here Saxon have made it cool. Age of Steam rages along like the Mallard scorching along in 1938 when setting the world speed record for a steam locomotive at 126mph. Have a listen:
And the power keeps on coming. Dambusters (title self-explanatory) pounds away like one of those bouncing bombs against a dam wall. Supa Nova similarly powerful.
Lady in Gray slows things down a little with a bit of a brooding, spooky tale with some prog metal leanings before All for One, Black is the Night and Living on the Limit form a blistering trio of cuts to see things out.
There’s not a weak note or moment anywhere. A stunning album indeed from the NWOBHM veterans. Perhaps I was wrong to push them to one side since 1980……!
>> SAXON CARPE DIEM ON AMAZON <<
After the disappointing Praying Mantis album, Carpe Diem has been a real treat.