Saxon- Battering Ram (2015)

Saxon- Battering Ram (2015)

“Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.”

Winston Churchill

By: Ghost Writer

In the times of the mighty New Wave of British Heavy Metal, three bands seemed destine for international long lasting success, the epic frenzied metal of Iron Maiden, the street wise guy, arena sized Def Leppard, and the intense motorcycle metal men known as Saxon, for some reason Saxon never made it to the big leagues, they became a cult phenomenon but never reached the height conquered by the other two metal acts, in a way, Saxon had better assets to become a top metal act, a singer that was leagues ahead from the then Iron Metal vocalist Paul DiAnno, and songs that were hard and heavy way beyond the then dynamic Leppards.

Saxon never found their way to mass success, but that didn't mean they were not able to create a string of worthy albums, starting with the now classic Wheels of Steel, Saxon was never short of talent and energy, and their new record Battering Ram kind of reminds me of what happened with Judas Priest when they issued the almighty Painkiller, in a way Battering Ram shows Saxon as a band born again, sounding younger and heavier than ever, should I say, with a record, that really could makes us think: Why Maiden didn't came with a record as good this one?

The title track features a intricate twin metal attack and quickly delivers near fatal guitar slashing riffs, front man Biff Byford sounding better than ever, like a dreamed mix of Rob Halford might and Bruce Dickinson range, not many singers sound this way today, considering that the band had been around for nearly 4 decades.

I may sound obnoxious but the Maiden thing surfaces again in The Devil's Footprints with a Number of the Beast spoken intro and lots of metal muscle without the mystic of Harris' troopers of course, and speaking of metal muscle just check out the opening riffs of the magnificent Queen of Hearts, a song that could have easily being included on the most sinister records by the mighty Judas Priest.

We can dismiss a bit tunes like Destroyer and Hard and Fast, two powerful tunes with great vocals, guitars and an impressive rhythm section but with rather generic heavy metal qualities, but the bans quickly reactions and fight backs with the heavy groove of Eye of the Storm, the perilous speed of Stand Your Ground, with its hotter than hell guitars or the damaging riffs of the ultra-melodic Top of the World.

From then on, the records gets a little experimental, the Sabbath like ski dirge of To the End appears, a slow and less noisy tune, and a chance for Byford to showcase his potent vocals, while Kingdom of the Cross nearly sinks the album, only to be rescued at the Las moment by the rocking beats of the Ac/Dc meets Priest grooves of Three Sheets to the Window, a great show stealing closer tune that saves the record after the two weak themes, almost filler, before it.

It seems that Saxon had a lot things to prove themselves, and they have passed the test with ease, it's really a shame that such amazing band had to play second fiddle to other less talented bands, but life ain't always fair, or so they say.