ALBUM REVIEW: Hell, Fire And Damnation – Saxon
A sextet formed in East London might represent the biggest jewel in the New Wave of British Heavy Metal’s illustrious crown, but a rambunctious mob from Barnsley have continued to sparkle for the same amount of time. In a parallel universe somewhere, it’s SAXON that are filling out stadia worldwide, yet despite not experiencing the same level of success as some of their peers, they’ve never wavered in their approach to their twin-lead guitar classic metal, a mentality that now finds them within touching distance of their golden anniversary and with an astonishing creative output under their belts – they’re averaging a new studio album just under every two years. Friday 19 January sees their 24th record of original material released just months before their 49th birthday; it’s entitled Hell, Fire And Damnation and comes via Silver Lining Music.
Those who bore witness to SAXON’s thoroughly enjoyable set at Bloodstock in 2021 will no doubt remember it being preceded by an appearance from legendary actor, fellow Yorkshireman and owner of the world’s loudest voice Brian Blessed, who introduced the band onto the stage and, seemingly, did so in his pyjamas. He’s back again here, lending his deep boom to opening track The Prophecy that charges into the title track with a beefy riff and Biff Byford’s instantly recognisable scream. There’s no shortage of history and tales here – across the 42 minutes, SAXON discuss alien conspiracies in There’s Something About Roswell, a nod to the industrial cities of the UK in Fire And Steel, and the Battle of Hastings in, appropriately, 1066.
This marks the first album to feature DIAMOND HEAD founder and axeman Brian Tatler on board in place of the recently retired Paul Quinn and he makes an excellent account of himself to little surprise, but perhaps the biggest acquisition is Andy Sneap behind the production desk, whose work on the last two JUDAS PRIEST records have revitalised them to the point they sound 20 years younger. As one might expect, his skills are on full display here – everything sounds crisp and charged, which is just as well because, well, this isn’t the best SAXON record.
Even if SAXON had decided to just tour the hits for the last couple of decades, they would rightly be regarded as legends of the genre, but their desire to continue writing and bringing out new music should always be commended. However, there are a couple of really duff moments on here – Madame Guillotine starts promising enough; the sound of the titular contraption taking another life at the beginning is suitably grim, but the track gets bogged down in its tempo and turns ploddy very quickly. Similarly, Pirates Of The Airwaves has a lot of sentimental value in tributing the likes of Radio Luxembourg, Caroline and more which helped stoke the flames of the fledgling metal scene, but it’s highly likely that few people under the age of 50 will have tuned in at the time; most under 35 wouldn’t be aware of them full stop. If ever proof were needed that SAXON, for all their want to keep crafting new material, weren’t interested in reaching out to the next generation of metalheads, that song is more than enough.
Hell, Fire And Damnation is, to be fully succinct, another solid SAXON record; it’s well produced and there are a good few moments that shine through. However, if you weren’t a fan before, this isn’t changing and those who are of a certain age bracket will likely hear this and consider it, at this point in time, ‘grandad metal’.
Rating: 6/10
Hell, Fire And Damnation is set for release on January 19th via Silver Lining Music.
Like SAXON on Facebook.