Artist: Saxon
Label: SPV Records
Released: 2009
Runtime: 50.16
Rating: 3.5/5
A new Saxon album is here again! Back together for the fourth year now in the “Unleash the Beast” lineup, they’re adding their latest piece to the rock metal mosaic with “Into The Labyrinth”. The quick follow-up to “The Inner Sanctum” (2007) is also a somewhat different beast. Above all, the metal vector on it is less pronounced, while the band leans a bit more on their well-known classic rock moves. There are far fewer dark tracks on it too, which is another takeaway. Although the opening track overturns that last sentence in a heartbeat, smelling most strongly of true heavy metal and the previous “The Inner Sanctum” record! The track is called Batallions of Steel, with keyboards added, which of course brings out a dramatic atmosphere that jumps up a notch in the pre-chorus, and then the chorus goes up in flames with a highly anthemic message, the kind the guys have kept up since writing songs like Crusader, The Eagle Has Landed or Broken Heroes. Joining this track in atmosphere and metalness is the wicked Demon Sweeny Tood, with its story of a murderous barber whose wife sells her customers meat pies made from the victims of her husband’s razor (setting: London, time: Victorian England). The chorus trick, which Saxon borrowed from choruses of other songs written in the post-“Destiny” era, isn’t exactly convincing, even though metal fans will get a good warm-up from the poisonously wound-up rhythm and the searing, massive wall of riffs. Soon after comes the big metal anthem Valley Of The Kings, whose chorus winds around downright shamelessly in the tradition of many of today’s “power metal” bands, while also sketching out some of the vibe of the “Lionheart” (2004) album. And with that, the tracks dealing with the noble elements of metal iron are pretty much done on this album.
Already the second track, Live To Rock, is a direct flirt with the Saxon tradition as we know it from the “Wheels Of Steel” (1980) album. Of course, Live To Rock is dressed fashionably, as befits 2009: in the revamped, live-sounding “The Inner Sanctum” production, in much better riffing, and decorated with considerably better solos. So Charlie Bauerfiend is a name that can’t hide when you put him at the production helm of heavy metal bands. Saxon keep sounding raw and German this time too. Even though the songs carry a stronger rock accent in terms of composition and performance (not in sound!).
Despite “borrowing” old Saxon figures, the band successfully fights off any whiff of repetitiveness, mostly thanks to their strictly recognizable uniqueness. First and foremost, these are classically shaped, big rock n’ roll riffs that “kill poisonously” (in a good way) under the baton of German metal production. Simple and gets under your skin. Slow Lane Blues is a typical example, confirming that cunning routine with which Saxon have steered their navigation gear so skillfully for more than three decades. The most direct link to the early eighties is the track Hellcat, a sped-up rock n’ roll basher with a modern-day “Motorcycle Man” or “20.000 Feet” riff in the pre-chorus. In the closing stretch, Come Rock Of Ages, with its typically blunt rock n’ roll riff, once more confirms the album’s basic accent.
Add the vivid, masterfully carved and evenly matched soloing of Paul Quinn and Doug Scarrat, who constantly complement and play off each other brilliantly in this craft, and even less interesting tracks like Crime Of Passion or Protect Yourself come alive on the album. Voice is a welcome change of pace for the album, led by a mid-tempo rhythm that suddenly booms like a cannon in the chorus as a destructive riff wraps around the song. It’s especially interesting for the acoustic accompaniment in the pre-chorus, which offers a great jump in dynamics and mood! Typical Saxon calculation. Unmissable.
To finish, the guys added an acoustic “bottleneck” version of Comin’ Home from “Killing Ground” (2001), and they stay convincing there too. Is an “unplugged” Saxon album of the band’s classics on the horizon? Judging by what I heard, I wouldn’t say no.
So what’s this band’s formula for success in the new millennium too? Be simple, don’t change, stay who you are. Of course, the guarantee of recognizability is Biff Byford’s vocal, which in 2009 still sounds in really good shape, even if slightly worn at the edges, and with his stamp he breathes into the songs the indispensable core trait of the Saxon spirit. However, Byford becomes less important once we focus on the guitar work, since that’s what actually keeps oiling and driving the cogs of the Saxon machine so it doesn’t rust by accident. The guitar work is what, once again, faithfully delivers a strikingly simple yet tightly seasoned and prominent riff – the typical Saxon riff. Although it’s well known that the guys just keep turning the same old tricks upside down. But they’re strictly theirs! Rare surviving dinosaurs who can survive any change in climate without adapting. In other words, Saxon are an example of a band that needs no innovation to successfully self-generate its own being. Spuds through and through. They’ve won me over again!
Lineup
Biff Byford – vocals
Paul Quinn – guitar
Doug Scarrat – guitar
Nibbs Carter – bass
Nigel Glockler – drums
Production
Charlie Bauerfiend
Track list
1. Battalions Of Steel
2. Live To Rock
3. Demon Sweeney Todd
4. The Letter
5. Valley Of The Kings
6. Slow Lane Blues
7. Crime Of Passion
8. Premonition in D Minor
9. Voice
10. Protect Yourselves
11. Hellcat
12. Come Rock Of Ages (The Circle Is Complete)
13. Coming Home (Bottleneck Version)
