Saxon – Hell, Fire And Damnation
Reviewed by: Tom Elke
Review Score: 8.5
Saxon has been putting out albums for a lot of years now. And after such a while, you’d think that a band would run out of ideas and material. Well that is definitely NOT the case with the mighty Saxon.
Their 24th Studio Album – Hell, Fire And Damnation has a release date of January 19th, 2024 on Silver Lining Music. It’s produced once again by Andy Sneap and lead singer Biff Byford, with Sneap handling the mixing & mastering duties as per usual. Hell, Fire And Damnation has a running time of approximately forty-two minutes, which features nine tracks along with just over a minute opening/narration to lead off the album.
There’s a new band member playing on the album. Brian Tatler of Diamond Head fame joins Doug Scarratt on guitar. They join the aforementioned Biff Byford on lead vocals along with Nigel Glockler on drums and Nibbs Carter on bass. This lineup is rock solid, and all play great on this record.
Hell, Fire And Damnation is filled with great guitar riffs on tracks such as ‘Pirates Of The Airwaves’, ‘1066’, ‘There’s Something In Roswell’ as well as the title track. Another standout throughout the album is the trading off of lead solos between Scarratt and Tatler. It’s like they’ve been playing together for a long time… it sounds great!
Biff’s vocals have not lost anything. He’s still as strong and impressive as ever, and it shows in his performance. Very well done. Saxon wouldn’t be “The Mighty Saxon” without one of the great rhythm sections in all of metal. Nibbs Carter and Nigel Glocker are in lock-step with each other, once again delivering the goods with power and precision.
All in all, Saxon gives us yet another excellent album in Hell, Fire and Damnation. There is no filler on this Record. It is quality metal music from start to finish.
Hell, Fire And Damnation releases on January 19th, 2024 via Silver Lining Music.