Saxon, one of the most famous metal bands, with a 40-year history in discography, return with a new album, entitled “Thunderbolt”, confirming our expectations created by the release of “Sacrifice” (2013) and “Battering Ram” (2015). Our beloved Britons are still here and they give us another beautiful record. Here we have, of course, the unbelievable Biff Byford, who adjusts his voice to the needs of each song and makes it look so simple, even at this age. But it’s not just him, no one is left! Paul Quinn and Doug Scarratt in guitars are there to give us quality riffs and solos to capture the melodies of the songs in our minds. Last but not forgotten, Nibbs Carter and Nigel Glockler make up the puzzles of success. In all of this, if you add the album production made for the third time by the unique Andy Sneap, we are talking about a guaranteed result. The album is dedicated to the unforgettable Lemmy, and one of favorite moments on the album, “They Played Rock n’ Roll” is talking about Motörhead (my two other beloved songs are “Sons of Odin” and “Roadies’ Song”. Lyrics deal with mythology, especially the Greek one. As far as the cover of the album is concerned, it is one of the most beautiful that the band has ever released. The loyal fans do not expect me to encourage them to buy “Thunderbolt” – everyone else will certainly not discover new musical horizons, but should not miss the opportunity to listen to this album, since the result is more than satisfactory.
♦ 8/10
Nikos Arvanitis
