British heavy metal legends Saxon have announced their 24th studio album, Hell, Fire And Damnation, is set to arrive on January 19, 2024, via Silver Lining Music. A video for the title track, a classic anthem exploring the theme of good versus evil, has dropped to coincide with the album announcement. The album, produced by Andy Sneap and Biff Byford, features ten tracks delving into various historical and mysterious themes.
Lead singer Biff Byford reflects:
“I’ve had that saying in my head since I was a small boy because my dad used to say it when he was upset. He used to say, ‘Hell, fire, and damnation, what’s tha’ been doing now?!’ when I was ‘messing up his cabbage patch’ or carving things into the kitchen table. It was a very ‘Yorkshire’ saying back in the day. There’s so much music out there about hell and the devil and the occult that I just thought it’s about time somebody wrote one about the battle just between good and evil! You can’t sing about the devil without singing about the good guy either, and the song basically says ‘make your choice’. We all have to make the choice, are we evil or are we good? The song’s about that fight. I think this album’s one of the best he’s done sound-wise, and he’s done a lot of albums. It has a really raw, vibrant sound… if you compress the total time making this album, it was four weeks tops… you can hear everything brilliantly, nothing’s overcomplicated, nothing’s over compressed. The guitar sounds are fucking immense, they’re just great, raw guitar sounds. And we haven’t done a lot of overdubbing on there, it’s just playing. I really, really like it. Getting these shows in March 2024 with Judas Priest and Uriah Heep meant it made sense to push and get the album made faster. So, we got on with it in haste and pulled it out of the bag. It was tricky, but I think it’s safe to say we managed it well. Oh, it’s safe to say alright!”
Watch the clip below and pre-order the album here:
Track List:
01) The Prophecy
02) Hell, Fire And Damnation
03) Madame Guillotine
04) Fire And Steel
05) There’s Something In Roswell
06) Kubla Khan And The Merchant Of Venice
07) Pirates Of The Airwaves
08) 1066
09) Witches Of Salem
10) Super Charger
