SAXON Frontman: 'We Don't Really Have A Tried-And-Tested Formula'

April 20, 2013

Simon Rushworth of The Journal recently conducted an interview with singer Biff Byford of British heavy metal legends SAXON. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.

On SAXON's latest album, "Sacrifice":

"We don't really have a tried-and-tested formula, even after all of these years. Look at the difference between 'Sacrifice' and 'Made In Belfast' on the new record. It's massive. There's no formula there. Sometimes SAXON songs are full-on metal and sometimes they're not. Sometimes the songs are a little more sophisticated. I just wanted 'Sacrifice', the album, to sound like I imagined it sounding when I was going through the songwriting — and it does. There are no ballads on there — it's pretty intense. I think we've broken new ground and, at the same time, gone back to our early-'80s roots. A couple of tracks are more flashy metal songs but there's a good mix."

On sticking to SAXON's retro sound, which other bands have taken inspiration from:

"Are they a nod to what we did in the '80s? I'm not sure. There are a lot of new metal bands out there who have a pretty retro sound and there's nothing wrong with that. I see where they're coming from.

"As a vocalist, I just like to go to places other singers can't reach and there are certain words and certain songs that help me do that. That's why you'll hear some familiar lyrics on 'Sacrifice' — wrapped up in some fantastic new modern metal."

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