Saxon: Hell, Fire & Damnation

It’s been a long time since there were changes in the Saxon ranks, and even then when Nigel Glockler replaced Jorg Michael behind the kit in 2005, the drummer was merely returning to his rightful place in the band after six years away. I think we’ll only properly find out going forward just how departed from Saxon original guitarist Paul Quinn truly is, his ‘live replacement’ Brian Tatler of Diamond Head seemingly having co-written three of the tracks on the band’s new release (the review stream didn’t come with full credits) and being named alongside Doug Scarrett as the co-guitarist on Saxon’s 24th studio album, Hell, Fire & Damnation. With Quinn recently seen playing gigs with his ‘side-project’, who knows how this will play out? Impressively, however, if you didn’t know any of that history I’d wager that from listening to the band’s new opus you wouldn’t know there had been any change at all. Yes, singer Biff Byford may now be the only guy left from the 70s heydays, but the core of him, Scarratt, Glockler and bassist Nibbs Carter have been operating (other than during Glocker’s ‘missing years’) as a unit since 1995 and in Tatler they’ve been clever enough to introduce possibly the safest NWOBHM guitar hands they could have hoped for.

Hell, Fire & Damnation kicks in with the minute and half intro of “The Prophecy�, which finds spooky noises, some grunting and none other than Brian Blessed(!) narrating a tale that neatly leads into the title track. In truth, fun though it is to hear the booming voice of Blessed strutting it’s unmistakable stuff, after you’ve experienced it a couple of times you do begin to wish that it wasn’t there. Considering that after that HF&D offers up only 9 real songs and doesn’t break the 40 minute mark by all that much, another real song would have been preferable. That, however, is the only negative I can find anywhere on this album, the aforementioned title track a snarling biting riff-fest that finds Biff in full throated voice, while the suitably theatrical “Madame Guillotine� is one of those overly explained lyrical workouts that Saxon specialise in. If you needed any proof that the guitar attack is in fine fettle, two songs in and any vague fears have been allayed. Powerful, bristling and confident, Scarratt and Tatler power up the mighty “Super Charger�, spit fury during “Fire And Steel� and yield to no one on “Kubla Khan And The Merchant Of Venice�.

Steering the Saxon ship safely from the front, Biff gets under the skin of alien conspiracies on the mighty “There’s Something In Roswell�, gets hysterically historical during “1066� and pays homage to heavy metal’s roots on “Pirates Of The Airwaves�, and all while singing up a storm as no one else can.

Thankfully we seem to be long passed those years where Saxon were sneered at by the ‘kool kritiks’ that kouldn’t find their ass with both hands and instead they are being appreciated as one of the most consistent bands in heavy metal history. Hell, Fire & Damnation may not make many efforts to move their sound forwards, or indeed even sideways, but when the results are as good as this, Saxon are still the kings of both denim and leather.

Track Listing
1. The Prophecy
2. Hell, Fire And Damnation
3. Madame Guillotine
4. Fire And Steel
5. There's Something In Roswell
6. Kubla Khan And The Merchant Of Venice
7. Pirates Of The Airwaves
8. 1066
9. Witches Of Salem
10. Super Charger

Added: March 3rd 2024
Reviewer: Steven Reid
Score:
Related Link: Saxon online
Hits: 1311
Language: english

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