Review by Felix on December 29, 2023.

A new Saxon album – and the first good news is that we are not confronted with “Inspirations III”, but with really new tracks. If I want to listen to cover versions, I go to the local music pub and suffer while amateurs try their hand at crap like “Sweet Home Alabama” or “Take Me Home, Country Road”. Anyone who thinks that black metal has a cruel component should please check out such pieces. Anyway, here comes the second piece of good news: Hell, Fire And Damnation leaves a higher impact than Carpe Diem. Since the bullshit they did in order to hit the US American market, Saxon always stood for down-to-earth metal. Nevertheless, compared to its predecessor, Hell, Fire And Damnation sounds more crispy. So let us forget the stereotyped title and the oh-so-metal artwork (both aren’t bad, but maybe too much of a good thing). Let’s come to the music itself.

An “internationally-renowned actor” whose name I have never heard before, proclaims the title track. The song starts with some powerful blows and recalls Metalhead (another hardly generic album title, haha). It marks a solid, partly solemn beginning with a casual instrumental part after the second chorus, but Saxon are clever enough not to use their best weapon immediately. It does pay off if you've been in the business for around 150 years like Biff. By the way, the frontman is still the most important element in the sound of the institution. Even though I do not think that his voice is extremely powerful, his charismatic and passionate performance is excellent. I am sure that he has more energy than most others of his age. But I wanted to speak about Saxon’s best songs on “Hell, Fire and so on”. The temperature rises sharply with 'Fire And Steel'. Yes, it’s another badly hung title, but the composition borders on speed metal and shows that Saxon are still no toothless tiger. Thus, let us open the curtain for the absolute highlight: 'There’s Something In Roswell'. The promo sheet describes this song as “the true treasure amidst the jewels”. I agree (and ask myself why they did not write ten “true treasures"). This mid-paced track has an irresistible drive, bursts with power due to the crunchy, crystal clear guitar work and dishes up a brilliant chorus: nothing special at first glance, but look (and listen!) again… it will not stop growing on you. I don’t believe that UFOs were landing in Roswell back in 1947 (greetings to Hypocrisy), but if they do not have songs such as this one, they would be well advised to take a trip to Earth immediately.

Either way, we have no time for extraterrestrial creatures, because Saxon ignites the next firecracker immediately. 'Kubla Khan And The Merchant Of Venice' is another musical muscleman and its lyrics deal with Marco Polo. Yes, despite the almost omnipresent clichés, Biff delivers a lot of fascinating lyrics. This is definitely no run of the mill stuff. In view of the potential the band still has, it's a shame that the smartly titled 'Pirates Of The Airwaves', which is dedicated to the unforgettable NWOBHM, can't quite keep up with the aforementioned tracks despite a catchy bridge. This song stands as an example for the second row tracks of the album. None of them falls completely through the net, but they do not have the abundance of exciting ingredients like the best songs. The earthy '1066' is one of them and its historical reference is more or less obvious, right? Saxon gave the guitars a lot of room again, and the mighty riffs hit the bull’s eye. Needless to say that they profit from another great performance of Andy Sneap and Biff, who mixed and mastered the output. I could cry when I imagine the never-released Sabbat record, which combines a production from 2023 with the musical class of 1988. Of course, some modernity-hating people will once again moan about alleged sterility, but who cares about these guys who only feel good as long as they can feel bad?

Snarling, rebellious guitars herald the powerful end of the album. 'Super Charger' marks a worthy finale for a surprisingly strong output. But even if the record would be less good – anyone who has produced more than 20 studio albums and still has this integrity and musical power is nothing less than a very important cornerstone for the entire metal world. Some badasses might not understand that, but they can go to their local music pub. Maybe someone there is playing "Sweet Home Alabama". Have fun with that.

Rating: 8.1 out of 10

Review by Vladimir on December 18, 2023.

Since my early teens, I have been into various NWOBHM bands, and I still am to this very day. One of those bands that I still love and worship is Saxon, who I have always admired for their constant inspiration and willpower. Back in 2022, they released their 25th album Carpe Diem which was quite an enjoyable listening experience, and as of 2023 they recruited the longtime Diamond Head guitarist Brian Tatler who would contribute his talents for their next album. On January 19th, 2024, Saxon is set to release their 26th full-length album Hell, Fire And Damnation via Silver Lining Music, and I think it’s the perfect time to see what the new album has prepared for the fans. 

As the opening intro track 'The Prophecy' perfectly sets the demonic and hellish mood for this album, from the title track 'Hell, Fire And Damnation' it instantly starts rocking out with heavy metal extravaganza, dominated by tight mid-tempo downpicking riffs, powerful guitar riffs, banging drums, and Biff Byford’s singing vocals. Saxon continues to provide intensely powerful and catchy tunes with just a tinge of melody, although still in a highly effective manner, even with the addition of Brian Tatler on guitars it seems that they managed to climb a step higher from Carpe Diem. Some great examples that perfectly demonstrate that they are still capable of writing what everyone’s pure heavy metal heart desires are 'Madame Guillotine', 'Fire And Steel', 'Kubla Khan And The Merchant Of Venice' and 'Witches Of Salem', all of which are incredible and strong bangers that really get your adrenaline going. It is a true miracle that there are veteran heavy metal musicians like Saxon who are still inspired at songwriting, no matter how simple and standard it may sound. Although I rarely have any doubts with bands like Saxon and Judas Priest, some of their newer songs do still manage to surprise me to the point where I admire the fact that their music doesn’t show its age. All of the songs are fairly easy to follow along and will definitely give you a good time while listening to the entire album from start to finish. The riffs keep the mood going, but Biff Byford’s vocal lines and the uplifting choruses is really where the songs shine in my opinion, ranging from very good to incredibly effective. No matter how the previous album Carpe Diem did fairly alright, I think that Hell, Fire And Damnation is really one bar higher in my opinion when it comes to the overall band performance. Even the awesome album cover art by Bornhom’s vocalist Péter Sallai perfectly demonstrates the kind of energy that Saxon’s music expresses on this album, with all the heavenly might that strikes you down. 

Hell, Fire And Damnation as an album is a very fun ride that really got my joy going all throughout, and I have to say that despite their age, Saxon still means business. This was the trial by fire for Saxon’s new lineup with Brian Tatler on guitar, but in the end, it proved that they made the right decision of hiring the grandmaster of the white Gibson Flying V. Even though I would still prefer listening to Saxon’s classic discography any time of the day, I still think that their new album is really worth a go, especially if you are their long-time fan who grew up with their music, alongside many other great names in NWOBHM. Do not miss out on Saxon’s new album when it is released, because you would rob yourself of this enjoyable experience that rocks out in pure banging heavy metal. 

Rating: 8.6 out of 10

Review by Felix on May 17, 2023.

“Avoid track by track” is something that always hammers in my head while I am writing a review. Therefore let me start with a description of Invisible Queen as a whole. In a nutshell, it is an unworthy ending. Holy Moses sound hysterical. They have defined brutality as an end in itself and the dark elegance of former compositions like 'Lost In The Maze', '1000 Lies' or 'Angel Cry' was not invited to play a part on this farewell party. Equipped with an almost painfully modern production which does not fit the name Holy Moses, the quartet is on a mission of violence. Of course, the band was already prone to pretty chaotic tones in the past (Terminal Terror, No Matter What’s The Cause) and perhaps I should not reduce them on their more polished side. Nevertheless, this form of nervous death thrash with some hardcore vibes is a pretty mediocre dose of noise. Nuances are falling by the wayside, some tracks sound like an accident and leave nothing but a big question mark over my head. For example this one: why did they choose the worst song as the title track? The opening riff is promising, but as soon as the vocals and the alarming guitar line set in, everything breaks down. A minus-chorus “crowns” this nonsense. Four minutes of wasted time.

Coming back to the opening riff of the title track, its class does not remain an isolated case. But the musicians are so enamoured with their tough guy and even tougher Sabina attitude that they bury these riffs under many layers of nearly dissonant noise. Of course, Sabina’s voice has not been made for high sophisticated vocal lines and to blame her for this would be very stupid after having been interested in Holy Moses for roughly 40 years. However, I always liked the band best when her raw screaming was combined with fascinating melody lines. This is not to say that only the comparatively mild yet still thrashy and exciting 'Liechtenstein' made my day. Their best track ever is 'Current Of Death' with this “ahahaha” line in the chorus. This kind of melody is enough harmony from my point of view, but even this iota of music in its narrow sense is missing here. For a short moment I hoped I am listening to the wrong album and asked just like a Danish King some decades ago: Is that you, Sabina? Sad answer: yes.

Doubtlessly, the good moments are hard to find and this is a pity in view of Sabina’s very respectable lifetime achievement in terms of Teutonic thrash. Frankly speaking, I briefly thought about giving the album a 70% rating, just so as not to disturb the farewell party. But come on, this would have been nonsensical and unfair against all releases which really deserve this evaluation. True is (if we can speak about truth in a subjective review) that Holy Moses have recorded many good works, but this one does not belong to them. Guitars that are fatter than the fattest man in the world do not form a good album per se. Okay, a song like 'Outcasts' does not kill its own main riff completely and so it is one of the rare highlights here. But the dominating dense combination of sheer death thrash savagery and crossover vibes (the senseless staccato thunderstorm in 'Too Far Gone' explains its title impressively) rules with an iron fist. This approach kills the dynamic instead of improving it. Exceptions like the good 'Depersonalized', another song that gives its riffing enough room to breathe, cannot make an ambivalent album to a good one. And so it’s time to say good bye and this is pretty easy for me, because I cannot find a new jewel here which can keep up with their classics like 'Necropolis', 'Six Fat Women' or 'I Will'. I could mention many more, but maybe this is also a kind of track by track crime, who knows?

Rating: 5.2 out of 10

Review by Michael on March 29, 2023.

With Invisible Queen German thrash legends Holy Moses bring their 13th studio album to the people and at the same time the metal queen Sabina Classen will then also retire with her band. This is quite a pity, because Invisible Queen has become a pretty strong swan song, which, however, must first grow as a whole.

Holy Moses does not make it very easy for the listener. On one hand you can often find quite dissonant parts in the songs, which are quite reminiscent of Voivod, on the other hand the production has also become quite primal and rough and is very reminiscent of the 80s. Apart from that, some songs seem quite chaotic and brute at first and you need a few listens until you have opened the twelve songs. The two pre-release singles 'Cult Of The Machine' (which is very reminiscent of the 1992 album Reborn Dogs in terms of dynamics) and 'Invisible Queen' are good examples of this. What happens in 'Cult Of The Machine' is hard to put into words - hysterical screams, gang shouts and propulsive, super-fast guitar riffs characterize the song and make it pretty hard to digest. 'Invisible Queen', on the other hand, is a very catchy song in the beginning until the vocals kick in and with them a rather repetitive part that is a bit exhausting. The chorus then hits again it's very melodic and invites you to relax for a few seconds. 'Depersonalized' is another pretty groovy track with some very intricate technical guitar riffs and for musically demanding listeners certainly a highlight due to its compositional sophistication.

But there are also consistently catchy songs that are almost too easy to listen to. 'Alternative Reality' is a groovy thrash grenade, which mostly moves in the mid-tempo range and impresses with some cool guitar solos and a catchy rhythm. 'Visions In Red' is a pretty brutal song, which is almost death metal in parts, especially when Sabina growls deep. In 'Forces Great And Hidden' Sabina once again shows her whole vocal range. From high screams to deep passages, everything is there and it is quite impressive that the young lady still manages this with her being almost 60 years young. Holy Moses' musical journey ends with 'Through The Veils Of Sleep' and whoever thought that a melancholic finale would be presented at the end is very much mistaken. They go once again kicking violently and a thrashing a thunderstorm with powerful riffs and drums celebrated, so that no stone is left unturned.

There are hardly any reasons to complain about Invisible Queen. Maybe because some songs are very exhausting (but that has always been the case with Holy Moses) and because the production sounds so out of time (but that's nothing new either) - otherwise everything is top notch.

Thanks a lot for the great years!

Rating: 9 out of 10 swan songs