Saxon
Battering Ram
UDR Music
2015
Saxon return for their... (counting to himself – balls, just consulting a wiki…) twenty first album… having been around since 1976 and putting out albums since I was born in 79, they along with Maiden, Priest, Motorhead and a few others a real institution. Saxon besides being a rather iconic band are a true bastion of classic heavy metal and a band that has hardly ever disappointed… always guaranteed to raise the roof, when they play live…
So what does “Battering Ram” have to offer, I hear you ask? Pretty much more what you’ve come to expect from the band… meat and potatoes, blue collar and metal.
Following a very good run of albums from the mid-90s to the mid-00s, the band did seem to lose a little of steam on the next few albums that always seemed to be good enough but not excellent, a tendency that 2013’s “Sacrifice”, seems to have helped rectify. “Battering Ram” continues down the same path, not reaching the dizzying heights of some of the latter day Saxon classics, but coming pretty close.
The title track doubles also as an opener and is a typical bludgeoning Saxon anthem that smashes the gates with its muscular riff and Biff’s typically cool stentorian delivery… it might have some similarities to “Motorcycle Man”, but hey… so what…
“The Devil’s Footprint” is a somewhat heavier and proggier number that half works and is typical of post millennial Saxon fare.
“Queen of Hearts” might be a little odd and make use of its atmosphere, but manages to work well despite its slower pace, because it’s pre-chorus build up releases very masterfully, once the actual chorus comes about.
“Destroyer” steals a Judas Priest riff and a lick and a borrows for a bit the rhythmic part of “Stormbringer”, somehow delivering the goods, of over two decades of kick as British rock and metal. Rip off? Not quite. I’d say, loving tribute and maybe somewhat lazy songwriting that however because of the band’s experience works and doesn’t really feel too unnatural. It’s cliché ridden, but hey, we like it that way.
“Hard and Fast” sounds a tiny bit dodgy as a title and it isn’t something sort of amazing, but on the other hand it doesn’t kill the album’s momentum.
“Eye of the Storm” (give the band an award for a “really original” title) is actually not bad, a lot heavier and despite its mid-tempo, it’s a pretty ominous and foreboding track that manages to pick up any slack with its sheer heaviness.
“Stand Your Ground” is a lot faster and this “slow/fast” dipole works well enough to reignite the album past its middle. It’s a typical “raise your fist” type of song with a largely atypical solo section that really sounds pretty psychedelic… but whatever…
“Top of the World” apparently must be about Mountain Everest? Since it’s the “TOTW” and it’s a decent mid>fast tempo number with a nice build …
“To the End” is a very rhythmical example, in a rather plodding tempo about “standing together” “to the end”, which I believe might not be yet around the corner, but probably is in sight…
“Kingdom of the Cross” begins with a minute and a half of spoken word; Biff’s singing a line, then the voice speaking another few verses, pretty obvious about WW2 with a solo occurring next. A third set of spoken verses follows and once again, Biff repeats his single line in this obviously quite deep but also experimental piece that sort of works, but isn’t quite a song... in itself…
Last but not least, comes “Three Sheets to the Wind (The Drinking Song)” a number, obviously, about getting drunk out of your mind. Sheets to the Wind – means blind drunk, which is a fair bit of rock n roll/metal fun. Not too bad to give a wink to the early days and the sound and spirit of that era despite the fact that in his biography, Biff says that they were mostly drinking tea during some of the early tours with Motorhead something that didn’t quite last for that long… Hahaha.
Saxon, expectedly deliver, true to who they are and what they do… and they do so with very little slack and a lot of panache… how they manage it, I dunno, but they do manage it… so what’s not to like?!
So what does “Battering Ram” have to offer, I hear you ask? Pretty much more what you’ve come to expect from the band… meat and potatoes, blue collar and metal.
Following a very good run of albums from the mid-90s to the mid-00s, the band did seem to lose a little of steam on the next few albums that always seemed to be good enough but not excellent, a tendency that 2013’s “Sacrifice”, seems to have helped rectify. “Battering Ram” continues down the same path, not reaching the dizzying heights of some of the latter day Saxon classics, but coming pretty close.
The title track doubles also as an opener and is a typical bludgeoning Saxon anthem that smashes the gates with its muscular riff and Biff’s typically cool stentorian delivery… it might have some similarities to “Motorcycle Man”, but hey… so what…
“The Devil’s Footprint” is a somewhat heavier and proggier number that half works and is typical of post millennial Saxon fare.
“Queen of Hearts” might be a little odd and make use of its atmosphere, but manages to work well despite its slower pace, because it’s pre-chorus build up releases very masterfully, once the actual chorus comes about.
“Destroyer” steals a Judas Priest riff and a lick and a borrows for a bit the rhythmic part of “Stormbringer”, somehow delivering the goods, of over two decades of kick as British rock and metal. Rip off? Not quite. I’d say, loving tribute and maybe somewhat lazy songwriting that however because of the band’s experience works and doesn’t really feel too unnatural. It’s cliché ridden, but hey, we like it that way.
“Hard and Fast” sounds a tiny bit dodgy as a title and it isn’t something sort of amazing, but on the other hand it doesn’t kill the album’s momentum.
“Eye of the Storm” (give the band an award for a “really original” title) is actually not bad, a lot heavier and despite its mid-tempo, it’s a pretty ominous and foreboding track that manages to pick up any slack with its sheer heaviness.
“Stand Your Ground” is a lot faster and this “slow/fast” dipole works well enough to reignite the album past its middle. It’s a typical “raise your fist” type of song with a largely atypical solo section that really sounds pretty psychedelic… but whatever…
“Top of the World” apparently must be about Mountain Everest? Since it’s the “TOTW” and it’s a decent mid>fast tempo number with a nice build …
“To the End” is a very rhythmical example, in a rather plodding tempo about “standing together” “to the end”, which I believe might not be yet around the corner, but probably is in sight…
“Kingdom of the Cross” begins with a minute and a half of spoken word; Biff’s singing a line, then the voice speaking another few verses, pretty obvious about WW2 with a solo occurring next. A third set of spoken verses follows and once again, Biff repeats his single line in this obviously quite deep but also experimental piece that sort of works, but isn’t quite a song... in itself…
Last but not least, comes “Three Sheets to the Wind (The Drinking Song)” a number, obviously, about getting drunk out of your mind. Sheets to the Wind – means blind drunk, which is a fair bit of rock n roll/metal fun. Not too bad to give a wink to the early days and the sound and spirit of that era despite the fact that in his biography, Biff says that they were mostly drinking tea during some of the early tours with Motorhead something that didn’t quite last for that long… Hahaha.
Saxon, expectedly deliver, true to who they are and what they do… and they do so with very little slack and a lot of panache… how they manage it, I dunno, but they do manage it… so what’s not to like?!