SAXON Completes Mixing 'Thunderbolt' Album

October 7, 2017

British heavy metal legends SAXON have completed mixing their new album, "Thunderbolt", for a tentative late January release. Singer Biff Byford told Canada's The Metal Voice on October 4 (see video below): "Andy [Sneap, producer] finished mixing it yesterday. The artwork's ready. I'm just doing all the credits now for the album, besides my job as executive producer."

Asked what the new disc will sound like, Byford said: "Pretty much the same as [2015's] 'Battering Ram' and [2013's] 'Sacrifice'. It's not gonna change drastically."

"Thunderbolt" will feature the song "They Played Rock And Roll", written about and dedicated to MOTÖRHEAD. Byford previously said that he gave the track that title because "that's what Lemmy used to say every night [from the stage]." He added: "It's basically about early MOTÖRHEAD — '79/'80 MOTÖRHEAD, like around 'No Sleep 'Til Hammersmith', 'cause that's the tour we were on, that one. So, yeah, it's about the band, really, and their music."

According to Biff, "They Played Rock And Roll" will be musically similar to Lemmy and Co. He explained: "I asked Nibbs [Carter, SAXON bassist] to write me some music that was like MOTÖRHEAD, and he did. So it sounds very MOTÖRHEAD-ish, but not MOTÖRHEAD, if you know what I mean."

Regarding the "Thunderbolt" album title, Byford said: "'Thunderbolt' is about Greek gods, so I read up on Greek mythology. There's not really that much. Homer had some writings… I made most of it up, but it's based on Zeus and Poseidon and Hades, so it's got a bit of good and a bit of evil in it, so it's pretty cool. Obviously Zeus's sign was a thunderbolt and his sign was an eagle holding a lightning bolt."

Like "Battering Ram", SAXON's upcoming effort will feature Byford alongside Paul Quinn and Doug Scarratt on guitar, Nibbs Carter on bass and Nigel Glockler on drums.

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