Saxon - Sacrifice

Traditional Metal
UDR Music

2013

1. Procession
2. Sacrifice
3. Made In Belfast
4. Warriors Of The Road
5. Guardians Of The Tomb
6. Stand Up And Fight
7. Walking The Steel
8. Night Of The Wolf
9. Wheels Of Terror
10. Standing In A Queue

Saxon are a band I really enjoy and whose legacy is unquestionable, but the last album makes me just a little skeptical going into this one. Call To Arms wasn't Bad, but I don't find myself going back and playing it very often either. It really hasn't aged that well for me due to a lack of particularly memorable highlights. Anytime a band puts out an album that just fails to grab hold you've gotta approach the next wondering if it'll be a rebound or the beginning of a trend.

The first mark against this album comes from just putting the review together. A sure way to not wow me right out of the gate would be an album that doesn't quite manage to hit 40 minutes with an intro. I'm sorry, but I do like a little more bang for my buck. Not to say I want filler, but an album length like that gets me wondering immediately if the song ideas just weren't exactly flowing during this session. Saxon have rarely made super long albums and there are some just over 40 minutes, but I think it's worth noting that the last album to Not quite hit 40 minutes was Crusader. People kinda expect more of a modern metal album as they have become just typically longer.

Well, all my suspicions regarding the last album and the length of this one are confirmed. This album just isn't that inspired and there's no real way around it for me. If there was an idea during the writing of this album it must have been "Just make some stuff that sounds like it did before". I'm not saying Saxon should reinvent themselves, but Guardians of the Tomb = Valley of the Kings, Warriors of the Road = Wheels Of Steel/Motorcycle Man, and Standing In A Queue = We're British and we've totally run out of song names. Those are just the more obvious ones too. Sacrifice pretty much sounds like B grade stuff from around the era of Killing Ground/Metalhead mixed with some more typical NWOBHM rockers that aren't catchy or different enough to be that interesting.

Highlights are few, but I do think the title track is a decent one that sounds like it could have been from Killing Ground. Fairly epic, if not completely mind blowing. Warriors of the Road, while already mentioned as a fairly cliche one, does have some good energy and I like the speed of the track. My least favorite tracks include Made In Belfast which gets a bit too chuggy with it's Metalhead era sound. Also, Standing In A Queue which is probably the silliest proto-metal/rock thing here and pretty much just unnecessary.

Overall, Sacrifice doesn't really deliver what I was looking for. This sounds a little too much like a band going through the motions and putting out another album for the sake of it. This isn't the worst thing I've ever heard by any means. It still sounds like Saxon and Biff has a pretty decent vocal performance, but there's nothing very inspired on this release. This is probably worth it for fans and has at least a couple songs to toss into the live performances next to the classics, but this doesn't measure up to modern Saxon albums like Into The Labyrinth or The Inner Sanctum.

Highlights: Sacrifice, Warriors Of The Road

Rating - 3.0/5

Saxon - Call To Arms

Traditional Metal
Soulfood
2011

1. Hammer Of The Gods
2. Back In '79
3. Surviving Against The odds
4. Mists Of Avalon
5. Call To Arms
6. Chasing The Bullet
7. Afterburner
8. When Doomsday Comes (Hybrid Theory)
9. No Rest For The Wicked
10. Ballad Of The Working Man
11. Call To Arms (Orchestral Version)

Saxon are just a classic and a band which I have loved for some time. They haven't always delivered a classic, but they have given metalheads a number of them through their career and have found new life starting around their '97 release Unleash The Beast. That too is some time ago at this point, but more recently Into The Labyrinth and The Inner Sanctum had much to offer. With an album as strong as Into The Labyrinth proceeding this one, my expectations were high.

Unfortunately, those expectations are ultimately not met with Call To Arms. The bulk of this album seems to kind of regress the band. I guess you could call this a back to their roots sort of album, but it just doesn't seem a very successful one to me. As I listen to Call To Arms I hear a whole lot of early rock/proto-metal influence and there's nothing inherently wrong with that either. I mean, this is a band who sprung out of the NWOBHM, had that influence, and delivered with success in their earlier days. The problem is a lot of this just seems very typical and maybe they just aren't that band anymore.

The best Call To Arms can seem to muster for me is some more epic/power moments, but those aren't as strong and memorable as the last album. On this release, Hammer Of The Gods and The Mists Of Avalons epic deliveries are pretty solid and make them highlights, but I can't help thinking that on Into The Labyrinth these wouldn't meet the standards set by Battalions Of Steel or Valley Of The Kings. Judged on their own merit these are pretty good. They just aren't as good as the band is capable of doing.

All in all, I'd chalk this one up to a decent, but not spectacular songwriting session. Most bands don't hit em out of the park on every go and this isn't a bad album. It just isn't one that compares to the last and that has to be at least somewhat of a disappointment. If you're a hardcore Saxon fan you'll likely still get this and find some good moments. Just don't expect a classic and you'll be fine.

Highlights: Hammer Of The Gods, Mists Of Avalon, Call To Arms

Rating - 3.5/5

Saxon - Into The Labyrinth

Traditional Metal
SPV

2009

1. Battalions Of Steel
2. Live To Rock
3. Demon Sweeney Todd
4. The Letter (Interlude)
5. Valley Of The Kings
6. Slow Lane Blues
7. Crime Of Passion
8. Premonition In D Minor (Interlude)
9. Voice
10. Protect Yourselves
11. Hellcat
12. Come Rock Of Ages (The Circle Is Complete)
13. Coming Home (Bottleneck Version)

Saxon return fairly quickly on the heels of The Inner Sanctum after just under 2 years and this one rings in the new year as the first 2009 album review I've written. Inner Sanctum, and really most Saxon since the return to form album Unleash The Beast, I have loved, so of course I was looking forward to this one.

From the opener this album grabbed me right away with the very epic sound of Battalions of Steel. Great melodic chorus to that one with a lot of power behind it and Valley Of The Kings follows in a similarly awesome vibe. Definitely two of the highlights as these are just great anthemic tunes that could very well find their way into my favorite Saxon songs in general. More standouts come in the forms of Demon Sweeney Todd which seems to hearken back to the sound of Metalhead with it's dark heaviness and Voice which has nice variation between slower verses building to a heavier chorus. Come Rock Of Ages is also worthy of mention as just a great rocker. Other tracks like Live To Rock and Slow Lane Blues are somewhat on the simpler blues rock groove side, but work for what they are even if they don't grab me quite as much as the previously mentioned tracks.

If you like what Saxon has been doing lately than I see no reason why this one shouldn't find it's way into your collection as well. These guys are just classic and they're not done yet.

Highlights: Battalions Of Steel, Valley Of The Kings, Voice, Demon Sweeney Todd

Rating - 4.0/5

Saxon - The Inner Sanctum

Traditional Metal
SPV

2007

1. State Of Grace
2. Need For Speed
3. Let Me Feel Your Power
4. Red Star Falling
5. I've Got To Rock (To Stay Alive)
6. If I Was You
7. Going Nowhere Fast
8. Ashes To Ashes
9. Empire Rising
10. Atila The Hun

In 1997 Saxon released Unleashed The Beast and was pretty universally welcomed back to the metal fold. That one also claimed a place as my personal favorite Saxon album in fact. Since then the band has reclaimed their place in metal to some extent and have been releasing pretty solid albums. Unleash The Beast remains the measuring stick for newer Saxon albums though.

On this one they seem to have realized that on some level as The Inner Sanctum takes a step back towards that sound. Even the intro reminds me of that album with it's somber build up. From there on the sound just continues to recall Unleash The Beast as the songs have that same polished power/traditional feel with an emphasis on anthemic rocking. This is just Saxon in the sort of mold they fit best into. Really this sort of memorable anthemic sound is what made the band in the first place in my opinion. I can't imagine fans of Denim & Leather, Strong Arm Of The Law, etc being disappointed with this. This is just a great slab of no frills metal with a flavor of the old NWOBHM sound that made them. Maybe nothing incredibly new on the Saxon front but it's easily better than the last 3 releases and the best they've been in a decade. If you can't get into a fist pumping rocker like "I've Got To Rock" then may the metal gods save you.

The only track I'm not that wild about is the longest and the closer... Atila The Hun. The messy drum sound and length kinda spoils that song for me. On an album of around 45 minutes an 8 minute disappointment is a bit detrimental, but the rest of the album is solid enough for me to still rate this pretty highly.

In conclusion, any fan of straight forward, anthemic metal or NWOBHM would be advised to check this one out. It is certainly a must for Saxon fans. These metal icons can still put out some great material.

Highlights: I've Got To Rock, Going Nowhere Fast, Need For Speed, State Of Grace

Rating - 4.0/5