Band : Saxon
Album title : Call To Arms
Label : UDR Records – Militia Guards Records
Distributor : EMI
Release Date : 23/05/2011
Release : CD

Saxon, a band that was formed 32 years ago, around the period where I became interested in metal and hard rock, releases it’s 19th studio album with this ‘Call To Arms’.  They’ve had their fair share of success of course, otherwise they’d long time have split up, but, I personally find they’ve naver managed to make the big breakthrough like an Iron Maiden for instance did.  And that’s a shame really, because these guys wrote some great songs over the years.

Now down to this album.  It opens with ‘Hammer Of The Gods’, a fast and energetic song.  The vocals by Biff Byford is still as easily recognizable as it was 30 years ago, and one must say that he still sings with a lot of power, and that at his age, is remarkable.
The guitar duo Quinn – Scarat plays superb, as does the rhythm section Glockler – Carter.  I’d say these guys still sound as fresh and hungry on this album, as they did 30 years ago. The title track ‘Call To Arms’ is epical Saxon at it’s finest, but is the track that precedes the title track which is called ‘Mists Of Avalon’ that’s rather special.  Not only is it a fast songs, but like some other Saxon songs, it has lyrics that immediately stick to your brain.  On top of that it features a guest performance by none other than Don Airy (Rainbow, Deep Purple, ….).
There’s even a track on the album that was especially written for a forthcoming movie ‘Hybrid Theory’, a sci-fi thriller.

To sum it all up : despite having had a minor period in their career, with this album Saxon shows they’ve still got it, and can teach a lot of younger bands how it’s done properly, and without use of countless gimmicks.

95/100

Erik Morren.