LEGENDs PREVAIL
The heavy metal heroes are bringing the thunder
Saxon, X Japan and Megadeth and more!
Fans should know what to expect from a new Saxon album – namely shitloads of vintage heavy metal riffing by the bucketload – but Biff Byford promises the veterans will never just rest on their laurels.
“I’m always aware that we could easily slip into writing the same old stuff,” he says. “We could just rewrite Wheels Of Steel or Princess Of The Night, so I try to make sure we don’t do that! I pick melodies and lyrics that are strong.”
Thunderbolt – landing next month – is Saxon’s 22nd album, and even Biff himself admits that that’s a number he’d never thought he’d see the band reach.
“I didn’t expect a second album to come out!” he laughs. “It’s just rock ’n’roll, you know what I mean? You have to take it a day at a time, and I don’t think we were ever earmarked to be ‘great’. We just came out of nowhere, and we’re really proud of what we’ve done.
Thunderbolt comes off an impressive run of post-2000 albums that has seen the legends become more popular than ever.
“They’ve all been pretty good albums, I think,” agrees Biff of the band’s second ‘golden age’. “We’re back on track again, and we’re not taking any silly side-roads any more. We’re just writing what we write, and it’s fun!”
Covering topics as broad as classical myths, vampires and the one and only Lemmy Kilmister – on the touchingly named Roadie’s Song – Thunderbolt will once again flex Saxon’s love of lyrics that step outside of the usual rock’n’roll tropes. “I like to write about Leonardi Da
Vinci, Einstein, the Wright Brothers and Icarus, all in one song!” he laughs. “It’s quite fun trying to write about all these things that are quite hard to get together. It’s interesting, and it fits the metal genre, I think. We’re having a lot of fun writing.”
Indeed, Biff and the boys are evidently still having an absolute blast on all fronts, and judging by their extensive touring plans for 2018, that won’t be stopping any time soon.
“We’re doing three shows in the UK, then six or seven shows in Europe, and then we go to America with Judas Priest for 10 weeks!” he beams. “Then we’re coming back, doing a few festivals, and then we’re doing a full-on UK and European tour in autumn.”
And then it’s time for a rest, surely?!
“Well, 2019 is the 40th anniversary of Saxon,” Biff chuckles. “I don’t know what we’re going to do for that, but we’ll plan something special. It’s quite a milestone, so maybe we’ll do some shows in some of the bigger cities. And we’ll probably have a cake. Ha ha ha!”
Much like metal itself, Saxon won’t be done any time soon. And we couldn’t be happier about it.
“I’ll write about einstein, Icarus and Da vinci In one song!”
BIFF BYFORD