Saxon - Carpe Diem
When playing darts the other Thursday at Tumble Top Club, the jukebox was blasting out a pile of classic rock & metal, as opposed to the usual Ed Sheeran & other similar cobblers-infested tripe you tend to hear in many pubs and clubs around here. When Saxon’s Wheels of Steel came on, I asked one of the boys who was responsible for all this good taste, and I was introduced to Ioan, a lad who is a regular at said club. We spent a fair old while talking about metal, prog, and the decent things in life, including the fact that Saxon had a new record out – this review is as a direct result of a thoroughly pleasant chat. Cheers, Ioan!
This opening section of the review will jog the memories of more than a few of you who are of a similar vintage to Lazland. In the late 70’s and early 80’s, in those crazy teenage years we all must go through, it was de rigueur for rock fans (as opposed to the punks, mods, new romantics, “plastic” music fans) to wear a denim jacket, and no self-respecting spotty sod would be seen dead without at least four band logo patches adorning said patchouli oil-infested jacket. Those bands were Motorhead, Rainbow, Whitesnake, and Saxon. Wearing these was the passport to a gloriously decadent lifestyle of wine, women, and song. Happy days, although whilst I had plenty of the booze and music, sadly the middle element by and large passed me by. Oh well, never mind!
So, let us transport ourselves to the joint-creaking mid to late 50’s as we enter the glorious autumn of our lives. What do we find? Well, for a start, Saxon are still very much a recording and going concern. Carpe Diem is, believe it, or not, their 24th studio release and it finds the Yorkshire pioneers of the NWOBHM in rude health. British heavy metal, right from the early works of outfits such as Black Sabbath, was always a lot more subtle and nuanced than a bunch of hairy blokes thrashing out hard riffs on top of pounding rhythm sections and the lead singer screaming for all his worth. There has always been an art rock or progressive element to much of this genre, and though NWOBHM was directly and clearly influenced by punk & new wave culture, the more musically minded proponents carried on with the thoughtful moods of their predecessors – Saxon fall within that camp.
Carpe Diem, or Seize the Day for those of you who, like me, went to a Secondary Modern School as opposed to a Latin teaching Grammar School, is a fine album. The title track kicks off proceedings and is an old-fashioned rocker racing along at a mighty old pace. This and All For One are more of what I would describe as “traditional” Saxon tracks, but all else in this 44 minutes long slab of rock demands further consideration.
The Pilgrimage is a fine track. It is particularly tuneful and rather proggy in parts. The main riff is impressive and the guitar solo four minutes in is extremely impressive. A great piece of classic rock.
We have Dambusters, with the RAF protagonists “dropping into history, by dropping the bouncing bombs”, a fun and very well-paced track.
Remember The Fallen (and we should) is a pandemic-inspired track lyrically asking when we can get back to normal and to reality, and it is as good a Covid piece I have heard in 2022, and I have now heard more than a few. Staying true to their working class northern roots, there is nothing pretentious or mystical about the lyrics and sentiments. It is a work of genuine respect.
Super Nova started off in a formulaic manner, as if it was about to explode and two minutes in it does, in a wonderful progressive realisation. The video is embedded below, so be sure to enjoy this fantastic section.
Lady Grey is another solid and thoughtful track, with some impressive keyboard blasts and effects, the like of which you most certainly did not hear in those heady days of 1979.
Black Is The Night has a deep, rumbling, and chugging underbelly and has very solid riffs. Again, this is interesting lyrically, and it carries with it, as with much of the best musical words, a meaning which can be interpreted in varying ways by the listener. Is Biff referring to a 24-hour night at the polar caps, or, perhaps, an impending climatic or nuclear winter? Whatever, this is another very good track and then the real power punch lyrically and musically for me is delivered on the album finale, Living On The Limit, an excellent rocker which deals with living on the edge permanently, coping with credit and debt simply to get by, and in 2022 Great Britain, this is an all too familiar problem.
I admit to having lost touch with this fine old band after Crusader in 1984, and that was very much my loss, because there is a huge amount to enjoy in this album. Get along to your local friendly streaming service, fill your ears with classic rock candy, and then buy the physical product as I have. You will not regret it at all.