SAXON

In 2015, South Yorkshire’s original NWOBHM forerunners proved their ongoing value with the powerful Battering Ram. Their next album, titled Thunderbolt, is being completed as we speak.

Several songs are finished, including a tribute to Lemmy that’s fittingly named They Played Rock’n’Roll, in which the band look back on their days spent touring with Motörhead. “I asked bassist Nibbs Carter to write me a song that was similar to Motörhead,” said frontman Biff Byford. “I just put some lyrics to it. It’s about the Bomber tour – we first met them when we supported them on that tour – and the album No Sleep ’Til Hammersmith, and the subsequent 80s scene.”

Byford says we can also, potentially, expect a duet with somebody “quite hardcore”.

The album release will be followed by a world tour. If you can’t wait until then, you can catch them headlining Ramblin’ Man Fair on July 28. PG

ETA: January 2018