Author: Aleš Podbrežnik
Artist: Saxon
Label: Silver Lining Music
Release: 2018
Duration: 47:47
Rating: 4/5
Unbelievable! Instead of staying home to babysit their grandkids, they keep on recording new studio albums. Peter Rodney »Biff« Byford, who is dangerously close to seventy, and his crew are presenting the new studio album from the legendary N.W.O.B.H.M. heroes Saxon, with the staggeringly innovative title »Thunderbolt«. I hope you caught the opening sarcasm.
So, nothing new here. Things stand right where they should, just as we’ve come to expect from Saxon. The good news is that Andy Sneap is back in the studio with Saxon, and he’s once again delivered an exceptionally sharp production, comparable to both Hell albums (Hell being Saxon’s contemporaries) that Sneap joined as a guitarist. Add a few spices (compared to the predecessor “Battering Ram”, more generous dressing of the arrangements with orchestration and a renewed emphasis on three-part harmonies) and the album even pulls toward the harder-edged moments of the band’s last 25 years, like the album “Lionheart” (2004).
»Thunderbolt« is wicked and occult enough, and gloomy as required, too! In keeping with old-school logic and the principles of tackling most of the metal craft, Saxon have once again pulled a winning poker hand of aces out of their sleeves. In a long-running streak of solid, high-quality album releases, they’ve delivered another splendid studio album this time too.
The catch is that for years now Saxon have been recycling what’s already been said, very convincingly and skillfully. Plenty of melodies, whether in the verses or the choruses, recall past compositions found on older albums, especially from the post-»Solid Ball of Rock« era. What’s really likable about the whole thing is the spot-coloring of riffs with orchestral effects and choir chants, which, behind the thundering riffs, strengthen the album’s gloomy, doomy, post-apocalyptic mood.
You know the words Biff’s poetry generally revolves around: “Thunder”, “steel”, “eagle”, “sky”, “iron”, “prey”, “hell”, “wheels”,… and of course a mandatory “rock”, and then comes that verb “to run” in various combinations (…”run for your life”,…”running down the border”… with a possible ending of …”with Mexico”). The lyrics always feature “taking off” and “landing” too, since the Saxon story is somehow tied to the “biology” of eagles. In short, nothing new! But, as always, it’s solid and beyond reproach. What Saxon know, they’ve mastered, and this time too the seasoned, cunning old cats keep their winning recipe in their songwriting, which they neither can nor want to deny. »Thunderbolt« is a quality album, a bit more pompous and bombastically playful than its predecessor »Battering Ram«, and on the new songs the band naturally leans on the legacy of its last 25 years of songwriting. Then there’s Sons of Odin, a thing with a rhythm that Heaven And Hell could have carried too, meaning that Black Sabbath classic. And if you pointed that out to Biff, he’d deftly seize the offer and insist it’s because he dedicates this song to Ronnie James Dio. The most traditionally NWOBHM-sounding track on the new album is the tenth one, Steel Merchants. The closing act of the album, the song Roadie’s Song, opens in a similar manner to 747 (Strangers in the Night). The lead rhythm in this song is also similar to the aforementioned “Wheels of Steel” classic.
Is there anything more to add? True, the lyrics are at times fixated on Greek and (again) Norse mythology, which is no surprise with Saxon, but there are also some moments where Biff remembers lost comrades. This time he had Lemmy in mind in particular (They Played Rock And Roll), and there’s also a tribute to one of the band’s techs (in the aforementioned Roadie’s Song), which of course keeps the Saxon tradition of confessional songwriting alive.
In short: »Thunderbolt« is packed with orthodox Saxon nomenclature. It surprises in nothing and disappoints in nothing. Another good Saxon record that fans of the band will surely add to their private collection of CDs and vinyl.
Line-up
Biff Byford – vocals
Paul Quinn – guitar
Doug Scarratt – guitar
Nibbs Carter – bass guitar
Nigel Glockler – drums
Production
Andy Sneap
Track list
01. Olympus Rising
02. Thunderbolt
03. The Secret Of Flight
04. Nosferatu (The Vampires Waltz)
05. They Played Rock And Roll
06. Predator
07. Sons Of Odin
08. Sniper
09. A Wizard’s Tale
10. Speed Merchants
11. Roadie’s Song
