With Biff Byford singing as well as he ever has, Paul Quinn and
Doug ratt making full use of the term ‘shredding’ with their
guitars and the lock-steady rhythm of Nibbs Carter’s bass and
Nigel Glockler’s drums, the future and the past c together in
an ear-scintillatingly engaging, raucous, melodic-yet-classically
heavy ten songs collection which will instantly be hailed as a
Saxon classic. The title track, with its delectable twin guitar
assault heralding the album’s commencement, gives the listener an
instant crack around the chops, whilst traditionalists will be
delighted to hear such a perfect marriage of old, classic Saxon
with the newer, fresher invective in such riff-fronted fare as
“Destroyer” and “Stand Your Ground”, but there are still moments
of space and exploration which fans will love. “This one’s a
natural progression from Sacrifice,” says Byford, “There’s a bit
less rock’n’roll and a bit more ‘heavy’ on it. We wanted to keep
focused on a style rather than moving around too much.” Produced
by Andy Sneap (Megadeth, Testament, Exodus Accept) at his
Backstage Studios in rural Derbyshire, Saxon were able
to hone in and whittle down any excess, finding the sonic space
and balance to let Battering Ram’s riffs and melodies get the
necessary space to scream front and center, Sneap bringing a
crispness to the sound which evokes memories of the early ‘80s
without for one moment sounding dated. “Yes, Andy has been in
charge of everything with this album, I keep on overview of it
all, but he’s done a great job and we’re both pleased with the
results. We have a great partnership.” Lyrically, Battering Ram
covers a variety of social situations, from the screaming fans
who rage at the gig barriers (“Battering Ram”) to the
inequalities of taxation (“Tax ’Till You Drop”), as well as
engaging in some good old fashioned myth (“The Devil’s Footprint”
- a 200 year old tale of people waking up in winter snowfall to
see unexplained hoof prints which they followed, looking for an
answer in vain). “When I’m writing lyrics I like to switch back
and forth between complex things, reality and rock’n’roll,” says
Byford, “I thought the whole folklore behind “The Devil’s
Footprint” made it great material for a metal song, being that
it’s both historic and mythical. “With “Queen of Hearts” I
wanted to write something around Lewis Carroll’s Alice In
Wonderland, and it’s about the chess game that happens in the
story. I wanted it to have prog-feeling in the way of its
ambiance and mood. Then you have songs like “Destroyer” and “Hard
and Fast” which are ‘80s inspired songs with that modern slant on
it. I’m a big fan of Marvel comics, and I wanted to write a song
around the character Destroyer, and with “Hard and Fast” it’s as
the title suggests, about driving fast! I do like to tie the
lyric into the song, so if it’s going to be a song about driving
fast, well, it has to be a fast, hard song!” There is also the
album’s closing cut, haunting, gripping, melancholic tale of the
First World War, “The Kingdom of The Cross”, where a poem unfurls
the feelings and horrors which comprised this most brutal of
global conflicts. “This year is the centenary of the end of the
First World War. Nigel had a piece of music which he played on a
synthesizer for a couple of years that I really liked. We had an
actor (and singer), David Bower from the band Hell, read the poem
and I sang the choruses. I didn’t want it to be typical Saxon, so
it is just keyboards, bass, me and Dave.” Wonderfully
uncompromising, with Battering Ram Saxon have once again
established their rightly-venerated credentials as Kings and
vanguards of heavy metal music.