Saxon – ‘Carpe Diem’ (Silver Lining Music)

Saxon – ‘Carpe Diem’ (Silver Lining Music)

Saxon have been a mainstay in my life since I was 13 years old. My school pal Tigger gave me a cassette of their Strong Arm Metal compilation, and my life changed the moment I pressed play on that TDK C90 and Strong Arm of the Law came chugging out of the speakers. They introduced me to the world of heavy metal, and I have been a fan ever since. The band have had their ups and downs, but despite this they have (mainly) stuck to their trademark traditional metal sound. Of course, their most successful period was in the 80s starting as a forerunner of the NWOBHM movement, but they were head and shoulders above many of the other bands that faded away, except for Iron Maiden and Motorhead (yes, I do consider Motorhead a NWOBHM band!). Saxon flew the flag of heavy metal all over the world and influenced many of the bands to come after them in the thrash movement. A band you may have heard of called Metallica played one of their earliest gigs supporting Saxon. (Don’t mention the fan incident!)

Saxon have had an amazingly prolific career and their latest effort Carpe Diem is unbelievably their 23rd studio album. The band have released a fantastic succession of albums in the last eleven years or so starting with Call to Arms in 2011, along with other highlights in Sacrifice, Battering Ram, and Thunderbolt. I would say this period is up there with their strongest material. Many would argue that a major aspect in the quality of their more recent material would be in no small part due to producer extraordinaire and part-time member of Judas Priest, Andy Sneap. (Fun fact: Andy produced an album called Sugarbuzz by the band Whatever in the 90s, and this scribe played drums in the band! He was also our live sound engineer and loves a Phall curry!).

The production on Carpe Diem is incredible as we have come to expect from Sneap, I must also comment on Biff Byford’s voice. He sounds as good (if not better) as he did back in the early days of Saxon, no small feat for a man who recently suffered a heart attack, not sure if that’s where the album’s title came from, but Seize the Day seems apt!  The opening of the album’s title track starts off with an atmospheric intro before a drum flourish gives way to a scream from Biff that could be something from Wheels of Steel! No sign of Biff retiring any time soon!

Carpe Diem gives us ten leather studded tracks of headbanging glory as only the Barnsley big teasers can deliver. This album does seem to be a bit more stripped down and lean compared to the other recent albums. This is no bad thing of course, big riffs courtesy of Paul Quinn and Doug Scarratt, pounding bass lines from the forever new kid Nibbs Carter, and the constantly outstanding Nigel Glockler in the engine room show the young un’s how to do this ‘eavy metal business. The title track is a head down, balls-out barnstormer with some glorious riffage and vocal gymnastics from Mr Byford, bloody marvelous!

Covid inspired track Remember the Fallen kicks off with another big chugging riff and kind of reminds me of another Saxon track about human disaster, Red Alert from their 1988 album Destiny, that song being about the Chernobyl incident. Saxon have always had great songs about historical events, The Eagle has Landed, Dallas 1 PM etc.. (I swear I learned so much more about history from metal bands that I ever did in school!) The track has a great video to go with it too with lots of news footage of the pandemic.

 The entire album embraces Saxon’s signature sound and like many other of the giants of metal still around, you know exactly who it is instantly. Age of Steam steams along (sorry!) nicely with Nibs and Nigel locking as tightly as the proverbial duck’s backside! The pace slows a little for the epic ‘The Pilgrimage’ but we are soon back in breakneck territory for the brilliant ‘Dambusters’ (I can’t believe Saxon haven’t had a song about the RAF bombers before!), Glockler again shows why he is one of metals most influential drummers here with his double bass barrage. The album continues to impress with more fantastic, blazing metal with tracks like ‘Super Nova’, ‘All For One’, and the brilliant ‘Lady in Gray’.

Saxon has proven yet again why their metal eagle continues to fly so high. As I write this, the band is playing to sold-out audiences in Manchester and London with Uriah Heep, Diamond Head, and Girlschool in support. Carpe Diem is another quality collection of songs to add to their legacy, Saxon has done it again, right, I’m off to Seize the Day!

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Author: Kenny Kendrick

Michael Monroe – One Man Gang (Silver Lining Music)

Michael Monroe – One Man Gang (Silver Lining Music)

A lot has happened in the rock ‘n’ roll world in the four years since ‘Blackout States’, the last album from Michael Monroe, hit the shelves. Slash and Duff rejoined Guns n’ Roses and are currently touring the world, The Wildhearts reformed and released their first (and arguably most important) album in ten years. Hell, even former Hanoi Rocks guitar-slinging legend Andy McCoy has beaten his former bandmate to releasing an album in 2019!

But while the wait for ‘One Man Gang’ has been a long one, the delay has been for good reason. Deals were struck and dotted lines signed to secure a record deal, management and build a promotion team to help get this album out where it needs to be heard. A band has to do what a band has to do in these trying times.

I refer to this band as The Monroes, as it has become way more than Michael Monroe the solo artist. Since the addition of former Black Halos man Rich Jones five years ago, this is the most stable line-up Michael Monroe has ever had. With Steve Conte, Karl Rockfist and of course former Hanoi Rocks bandmate Sami Yaffa backing the livewire frontman for 9 years, they have become a world-class live unit to be reckoned with. They have a certain chemistry, whether in the studio or on the stage, that cannot be faked. A gang mentality if you like, and this band possesses it in spades.

 

Recorded in Finland over a 3 week period in March last year, ‘One Man Gang’ was self-produced by Michael, Steve, and Rich, with the assistance of long-time engineer Petri Majuri, and all of the band members contribute to the writing process. As with the previous 3 albums, it has a punchy sound and a crystal clear production that captures and accentuates their killer live delivery.

Preaching his PMA (positive mental attitude), Monroe leads his cohorts through an incendiary, punk fuelled opener. The title track blasts from the speakers with a statement of intent. A tongue twister of a verse delivered with the fury and enthusiasm of a snotty, punk-ass kid. “I was front of the line when they gave out atti-chood!” he drawls in that unmistakable tone. You gotta love him, and the fact that The Damned legend Captain Sensible guests here with some cool guitar, well you just gotta love this song.

Recent single ‘Last Train To Tokyo’ is Monroe’s love letter to a city that he has had a special relationship with since the Hanoi Rocks days. Musically, its familiar territory as Steve Conte’s cool lead guitar refrain stabs over Rich Jones’ ’78 styled, punky riffage. An overly catchy chorus follows a well trodden, glitter-pathed road, recalling old haunts and memories. It’s a good place to be.

 

‘One Man Gang’ is an album choc-a-bloc with punchy rockers, loaded with Yaffa’s pumping bass and the low slung guitars of the formidable duo Conte and Jones. The likes of ‘Junk Planet’ and ‘The Pitfalls Of Being An Outsider’ are sure to be future live favourites.

Former Hanoi Rocks guitarist Nasty Suicide lends his six string prowess to the sonically seductive ‘Wasted Years’. It’s a song that has ‘single’ stamped all over it. There are hints of their former band as Monroe’s bursts of harmonica introduce the verses before another overly catchy chorus takes hold.  Elsewhere, ‘Hollywood Paranoia’ walks the boulevard of broken dreams for sure. With its prominent mariachi horn section and Hanoi-style ‘nearly out of tune’ backing vocals and a chorus that could’ve been pilfered straight from the ‘Not Fakin’ It sessions, ‘Heaven Is A Free State’ a surprise highlight that sees the band explore unchartered territory with great success.

 

 

They take things down momentarily. The balladic ‘Midsummer Nights’ is this album’s ‘Stained Glass Heart’, it’s pretty generic truth be told, and probably the only track that doesn’t really do it for me at this early stage. But the retrospective and contemplative ‘In The Tall Grass’ is much more interesting. The band creates atmosphere with great use of space, as our illustrious singer croons over a silky bass line. The guitars accentuating the vibe nicely in the background before breaking out into a guitar driven chorus, played out over urgent Rockfist beats. Another of many highlights.

 

If you are hoping for something groundbreaking from ‘One Man Gang’ you will be disappointed, but if you desire a high octane, rock ‘n’ roll rollercoaster of a ride, then sit back and buckle down. The Monroes deliver just what the doctor ordered. As the man himself says in the PR bumph “I do what I do and I’ll never change”.

Rock ‘n’ Roll legends are a dying breed. Michael Monroe is a living, breathing example to all aspiring musicians, and at 57 years old shows no sign of slowing down just yet. ‘One Man Gang’ is surely a testament to how having a full dose of PMA can do wonders for a rock ‘n’ roll soul.

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Author: Ben Hughes