Saxon is kicking off 2024 with a bang. The band released its latest album, Hell, Fire & Damnation Friday through Silver Lining Music. The band’s 24th (yes, 24th) album, it displays the veteran hard rock band as an act that is still at the top of its game even after making so much impressive music for more than four decades. The 10-song record proves engaging and entertaining in part because of its featured musical arrangements, which will be discussed shortly. The lyrical content that accompanies the album’s musical arrangements makes for its own interest. It will be examined a little later. The collective production and sequencing of that content puts the finishing touch to the presentation, completing its picture. They will also be discussed later. Each item noted is important in its own way to the whole of the record. All things considered they make Hell, Fire & Damnation the first great hard rock and metal album of 2024.
Hell, Fire & Damnation, the latest album from Saxon, is the first great new hard rock and metal album of 2024. Having come less than two years after the release of its then latest album, Carpe Diem (that record was released in February 2022 – also through Silver Lining Music), the album proves so worth hearing in part through its featured musical arrangements. From beginning to end of its 41-minute run time the album’s musical arrangements are everything that audiences have come to expect from the veteran hard rock act. All of the familiar heavy guitar riffs are there, as are the equally powerful vocals from front man Biff Byford. The rhythm section of bassist Nibbs Carter and Nigel Glockler adds its own punch to the mix, too. The group shows time and again throughout each arrangement why Saxon has remained one of the most respected members of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal movement to this day, even with the easy comparisons to the likes of Judas Priest, Iron Maiden and others still as obvious as ever. The band still manages to make each song its own, giving each composition its own identity that is certain to keep listeners fully engaged and entertained from beginning to end.
That familiar and still powerful musical content presented throughout Hell, Fire & Damnation builds a strong foundation for the album. Building on that foundation is the lyrical content that accompanies said material. The lyrical content featured in this album is so interesting because of its focus. The focus in question is that of world history, for lack of better wording. From the Salem with trials in the aptly titled, ‘Witches of Salem,’ to the construction of one of Great Britain’s greatest cities in ‘Fire and Steel’ to even the ongoing controversy over the infamous Roswell incident in the album’s latest single, ‘There’s Something in Roswell,’ the album’s lyrical content avoids the trappings of so much typical fare that is out there, opting for something more unique along the way. The band even takes on the voyages of explorer Marco Polo in ‘Kubla Kahn and the Merchant of Venice’ and the well-known 1960s pirate radio movement in the United Kingdom in ‘Pirates of the Airwaves.’ As a side note, the movie The Boat That Rocked (titled Pirate Radio here in the United States) also examined that movement. While it was a commercial failure, it has since gone on (justifiably) to become a cult favorite. The only song in this album that does not take on history in some form is its closer, ‘Super Charger,’ which clearly is just about a nitro junkie ready to race on a drag strip. It is reminiscent in its wording to that of Metallica’s own similar hit single, ‘Fuel.’ Keeping all of this mind, it leave sone wondering how the band ended up announcing a tour with Uriah Heep this spring instead of Sabaton, considering Sabaton’s own ongoing trend of tackling history through its songs. The bands’ musical stylings are just as similar, too. Either way, the lyrical content featured throughout Hell, Fire & Damnation clearly does just as much to keep listeners engaged and entertained as the album’s powerful hard rock musical arrangements. To that end, they collectively give audiences reason enough in themselves to take in this album.
The musical and lyrical content presented throughout Hell, Fire & Damnation is only part of what makes the album a success. The collective production and sequencing of this record rounds out its most notable elements. Noting again the heaviness in the album’s musical arrangements, there is a lot going on in each song. That being the case, every bit of attention had to be paid to each song in order to balance in order to prevent the musicians from overpowering one another in their performances. The attention paid to this aspect paid off greatly in each song. The result is that each performer’s work expertly compliments that of his band mates and that each arrangement is fully immersive. The sequencing of that intense content takes into full account, the subtle variances in each arrangement. The result therein is that is that the subtleties keep audiences just as engaged as the production, completing the album’s aesthetic aspect. When that collective aspect is considered along with the album’s overall content, the whole makes Hell, Fire & Damnation another fully successful offering from one of hard rock’s most respected acts.
Hell, Fire & Damnation, the latest full-length studio offering from Saxon, is another welcome work from the veteran hard rock band. The album’s success comes in part through its featured musical arrangements. The arrangements in question offer audiences everything that they have come to expect from the band over its more than 40 years making music. In other words, they are fully accessible for any hard rock and metal fan. Just as accessible is the album’s lyrical content. From beginning to end, the album’s lyrical content takes audiences around the world and through history. It collectively makes for a great starting point to get audiences more interested in history. The album’s collective production and sequencing puts the finishing touch to its presentation, ensuring a fully positive aesthetic aspect to its whole. Each item examined is important in its own way to the whole of the album. All things considered, they make Hell, Fire & Damnation the first great entry in this year’s field of hard rock and metal albums.
Hell, Fire & Damnation is available now through Silver Lining Music. The band announced early this month that it is planning a spring tour alongside Uriah Heep in support of its new album. The tour is currently scheduled to launch April 23 in Ft. Lauderdale, FL and to run through May 31 in Dallas, TX.
The tour’s schedule is noted below:
The Tour will take in the following cities with dates as follows:
Tuesday April 23rd Fort Lauderdale, FL – The Parker
Wednesday April 24th Tampa, FL – Hard Rock Event Center
Thursday April 25th Orlando, FL – The Plaza Live
Sunday April 28th Louisville, KY – Mercury Ballroom
Tuesday April 30th Morgantown, WV – The Metropolitan Theatre
Wednesday May 1st Pittsburgh, PA – Roxian Theatre
Thursday May 2nd Jim Thorpe, PA – Penn’s Peak
Friday May 3rd Englewood, NJ – Bergen Performing Arts Center
Sunday May 5th Boston, MA – Citizens House of Blues
Tuesday May 7th Long Island, NY – Patchogue Theatre
Wednesday May 8th Glenside, PA – Keswick Theatre
Friday May 10th Peekskill, NY – Paramount Hudson Valley Arts
Saturday May 11th Cleveland, OH – TempleLive at the Cleveland Masonic
Sunday May 12th Elkhart, IN – Lerner Theatre
Monday May 13th Detroit, MI – St. Andrew’s Hall
Tuesday May 14th Grand Rapids, MI – GLC Live at 20 Monroe
Thursday May 16th Marietta, OH – People’s Bank Theatre
Friday May 17th Cincinnati, OH – Bogart’s
Saturday May 18th Joliet, IL – Rialto Square Theatre
Sunday May 19th St. Charles, IL – Arcada Theatre
Tuesday May 21st Nashville, IN – Brown County Music Center
Wednesday May 22nd Milwaukee, WI – Pabst Theater
Friday May 24th Springfield, MO – Gillioz Theatre
Saturday May 25th Wichita, KS – TempleLive at Scottish Rite Center
Wednesday May 29th Houston, TX – House Of Blues
Thursday May 30th San Antonio, TX – Tobin Center for the Performing Arts
Friday May 31st Dallas, TX – Glass Cactus
More Dates to be added!
Saxon’s upcoming North American tour will follow the first leg of a European tour in support of its new album. After the North American tour the band will return to Europe for more live shows. The band’s full European tour is noted below:
That tour’s schedule is noted below:
HELL, FIRE AND DAMNATION WORLD TOUR (Part 1)
11 March – OVO Hydro, Glasgow (UK)
13 March – First Direct Arena, Leeds (UK)
15 March – 3Arena, Dublin (IE)
17 March – BIC, Bournemouth (UK)
19 March – Resorts World Arena, Birmingham (UK)
21 March – OVO Arena Wembley, London (UK)
24 March – Festhalle, Frankfurt (DE)
25 March – Olympiahalle, München (DE)
26 March – Volksbank Messe, Balingen (DE)
27 March – Westfalenhalle, Dortmund (DE)
29 March – O2 Arena, Prague (CZ)
30 March – Tauron Arena, Kraków (PL)
1 April – Wiener Stadhalle, Vienna (AT)
2 April – Roxy, Ulm (DE)
3 April – St. Jakobshalle, Basel (CH)
5 April – Halle Tony Garnier, Lyon (FR)
6 April – Mediolanum Forum, Milan (IT)
8 April – Zénith, Paris (FR)
13 June – Sant Jordi Club, Barcelona (ES)
15 June – Navarra Arena, Pamplona (ES)
17 June – Palacio Vistalegre, Madrid (ES)
1 July – Barclays Arena, Hamburg (DE)
2 July – Max-Schmeling-Halle, Berlin (DE)
4 July – Arena Nürnberger, Nürnberg (DE)
8 July – Sap Arena, Mannheim (DE)
10 July – Messehalle, Dresden (DE)
More dates to be announced
More information on Saxon’s new album and forthcoming tour is available along with all of Saxon’s latest news at:
Website: http://www.saxon747.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/saxon
Twitter: http://twitter.com/SaxonOfficial
