Saxon
Into The Labyrinth

Stuck at home with a sudden intestinal flu, between one visit to the bathroom and another, I set out to review this 2009 Saxon work.

After the era of "Denim and Leather," Saxon fell into mediocrity, making their style harder but still repetitive and releasing albums almost every two years.

The bells toll twice before the epic march "Battalions of steel," the introductory track of the new work, very pleasant to listen to and providing a favorable start to the album, giving energy to the listener. We then move on to the first single "Live to rock," which as a single is a simple song with a catchy chorus and a promotional video that is simply awful. It is followed by the harder "Demon Sweeney Todd," harder and faster, possibly the best track on the album. After the superfluous and unnecessary "The letter," a forty-two-second lament, we have "Slow Lane Blues" and the horrible "Crimes of Passion," then move on to the annoying "Premonition in D minor," a kind of solo of the same duration as "The letter" and of the same usefulness. I wonder why they include these songs, they just get on your nerves. Then begins the slow "Voice" and the aggressive "Protect Yourselves" and "Hellcat", the latter with a catchy chorus that raises the situation's fortunes. "Come rock of ages (the circle is complete)" is in the same vein as the single and the final country "Coming Home (bottleneck version)" is just awful.

So what can be said about Saxon's latest work? Useless. I would have preferred a CD entirely in the style of "Live to rock," less pretentious and more listenable, maybe even for the masses. Or a total shift to Heavy Metal. Not this hybrid, this shapeless mass of songs randomly stuck together. Bah. We need changes, and as long as old folks who stay fixed where they are don't move, it will be difficult for positive things to happen. And I'm not just talking about the music scene.