Is CARPE DIEM worth your attention? New SAXON album reaction & review
The legendary Saxon are back with a brand new album Carpe Diem… well technically it will be
out in about a week but since I was already able to listen to it and I simply cannot wait
to share the information with you, let’s first of all take a look at what is inside the Saxon’s 23rd
studio album, how it may weirdly relate to the next Judas Priest effort and then hopefully answer the
question of whether Saxon are still relevant in the world of the Heavy music. Here you go!
The album’s title track opens the record with an enchanting war drum beat which
quickly grows into a thunderous Heavy intro. Overall Carpe Diem (Seize the Day) is probably
the most definitive song of the album as a whole: it is powerful,
vigorous and it holds a listener’s attention from the very first till the very last note.
And let’s not forget that around two years ago the band’s front man Biff Byford actually suffered
a heart attack and he actually started writing this album while he was still on a hospital
bed. And it looks like with this record Saxon are actually living up to the album’s title,
grabbing whatever the opportunities they havem not wasting any notes and packing
With a catchy guitar leak of Age of Steam Saxon bring a slightly darker atmosphere to the table,
yet staying true to the formula they themselves set as a golden standard for Heavy Metal around
40 years ago. Once again exploring the theme of meaningless industrialization Byford showcases
that despite him being 71 years old this year he still manages to make his voice sound as strong
and powerful as he did when he was in his 30s… and once again let’s not forget that the guy just
underwent an open-heart surgery a couple of years ago. An enchanted intro to The Pilgrimage
gives you a very strong 80s vibe, and for some weird reason I actually think that it might
be one of the strongest tracks on this record, and here’s why: this song is actually rather simplistic
and in parts even cliche, yet being more than six minutes long… and that’s a lot for this
record, it actually doesn’t feel over stretched.
I’ve always believed that you don’t actually always have to have a complex song structure
to write an amazing melody, and even more, if you’re actually able to write a simple melody which will
resonate with its listener, touch them and make them feel something – that is actually a sign of
mastery. And one thing that Saxon as one of the founders of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal
know how to do great after 40 years of their career is exactly that. And I think that at
least partially its simplicity is what actually makes me like The Pilgrimage so much… I mean
that or the fact that its title simply resonates with our channel’s name. By the way talking about
Pilgrimage if you would like to support my efforts of keeping Heavy Metal alive on YouTube and rock a
Metal Pilgrim t-shirt or a hoodie you’ll be able to find a link to the order form in the pinned comment.
I’ll be very grateful for your support. Skullcrushing Dambusters is an ode to the Operation
Chastise held by the Royal Air Force in 1943. And just like its predecessor Iron Maiden’s Aces High
it is full of galloping riffs and extremely memorable guitar licks. And yet by all means it
does not mimic Steve Harris’ masterpiece in any way, quite the opposite, it is actually conducted in
a very Saxon way summarizing everything the band has been known for in the past decades
yet sounding very modern and 21st century-like. I actually am very surprised the band didn’t choose
this one as one of the album’s singles since it would definitely grab attention of both oldschool
and newer Metal fans. Yet instead the band went with Remember the Fallen to promote the album.
Byford himself said that Saxon loves writing about historical events
yet there are just so many of them which you could write about and throughout the years
Biff has written pretty much about anything you could possibly imagine. And thus Biff wanted to
write a song about the most current events, about cvid about how the people have died and give his
perception of how it seemed to happen especially given the fact that it still hasn’t finished yet.
And thus ends the first part of the album and here would be a good place to come to
a first conclusion about Carpe Diem. Despite the bands staying true to its form Carpe Diem sounds
extremely fresh and definitely feels like an album released in the 21st century, with blues
based guitarists like Paul Queen and Doug Scarratt embracing the new era of Heavy Metal yet staying
true to their own sound and tone developed by Saxon in the early 80s. In addition, mastering…
and I might be running a little bit ahead of myself here, but on all the tracks on this record
is simply exquisite, maybe even the best in the band’s discography. And all that is of course at
least partially thanks to Andy Sneap. Yes the same Andy Sneap who’s been touring with Judas Priest
and will continue doing so on the next tour and who is currently working on Metal Gods’ follow-up
to their latest effort Firepower. And so here’s the thing: after hearing what job Andy has done on the
guitar front and on mastering of Carpe Diem I’m not only not worried about the success of this
Saxon album, I’m also very confident that Judas Priest’s follow-up to Firepower is going to be a
killer. And since we
are taking a little break here I just wanted to remind you to not hesitate to comment on anything
you hear or see in this video and especially if you disagree with me, because the whole point of
our reviews is to start a conversation. But alright, the break is over, let’s continue. Giving the band’s
respectable age I was expecting Saxon to slow down a notch on the second half of the album yet the
fierce intro to Super Nova quickly made me realize just how wrong I was. This song, just like the
rest of the second half, is just as vigorous and powerful as the first one and even the mid-tempo
pieces like Lady and Grey keep the same level of energy and just once again prove that well into
their fifth decade of existence the band has just as much will to rock the world as they did before.
And the songs like All For One which title I assume is derived from Alexander Duma’s Three
Musketeers and a fast piece Living on the Limit with its wonderful breakdown will quickly become
fans favorite on all future live shows, which we all know are simply insane for Saxon,
and at this point we just all have to hope that the future tour will happen this year.
Overall Carpe Diem is a very consistent record and therefore I believe that fans favorite songs
from this album would be different for each and every one of us depending on our emotional
connection with the band and might actually even change for each of us from time to time.
And thus realistically I cannot point out which track on this record is the strongest one, yet I
can absolutely point out which song would be the best possible outro for this record,
and it would definitely be Black Is the Night. This track actually has everything you want to hear on
a Saxon song including simple yet catchy guitar riffs, a stable rhythm section and a very melodious
and catchy chorus. And more than anything the purpose of Black Is the Night is for you to wish
that Saxon would not only take this record out on the road, but they would also despite their age
produce as many follow-ups to Carpe Diem as they possibly can. Alright so what do we have so far?
Is Carpe Diem worth your attention? Definitely. Is it the most innovative album of the past years?
Definitely not, but this actually is a good thing, because this is an album by musicians who have
their formula and know what they’re doing and yet are not being stuck in the past and are looking
forward. Because despite Carpe Diem being a classic sounding Heavy Metal album it actually sounds
fresh and crisp, and holds the listener’s attention from the very first until the very last note.
And I would actually go as far as… and I know I might change my mind later on,
but after a few lessons I can actually outline that I believe that it might be
the best album Saxon have put out since the early 80s. And therefore it is worth attention of not
only a die-hard Saxon fan but also anyone who wants to get into the band’s material.
But anyways, what do you guys personally think about Saxon and about the singles
which were already released, or if you are watching this past the release date
what do you think about Carpe Diem as a whole? Please let us know in the comments.
As always thank you so much for watching this review guys and keep rocking.
