WITH A storming new stomp in their boots and a renewed, lithe swagger to their legendary sound, Saxon will release \u201cSacrifice\u201d, on 25th February 2013 through UDR Records. Taking a sharper, re-invigorated approach to the production, on this, their 20th album, Saxon have produced 10 of their strongest, heaviest and most inspired songs for many-a-year, and a more than worthy successor to their last album \u201cA Call To Arms\u201d. \u201cLess tricks, more power!\u201d roars frontman and founding father Biff Byford, \u201cmy brief to the band was to be raw, be real and not be afraid to look back at the old classic material for inspiration.\u201d<\/p>\n
The album was recorded at LS Studios in Yorkshire and was produced by Byford with Andy Sneap mixing and engineering by Jacky Lehmann. It fairly bristles with muscular metallic intent, Paul Quinn and Doug Scarratt\u2019s guitar work the best it\u2019s ever been, while Biff\u2019s vocals sound fresher and livelier. The songwriting too harks back to a classic era in Saxon\u2019s history, with the likes of \u2018Warriors Of The Road\u2019, \u2018Wheels Of Terror\u2019 and \u2018Stand Up And Fight\u2019 evoking the halcyon days of yore with a contemporary twist, the classic Saxon sound absorbing the snarl, ferocity and attitude of contemporary bands (and fans) such as Megadeth, as evidenced by the crunching title cut \u2018Sacrifice\u2019.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s certainly been done from a more early \u201880s thrashier perspective,\u201d explains Biff, \u201cand it\u2019s not just guitars bashing away willy-nilly, they\u2019ve got a fresh drive, purpose and perspective.\u201d<\/p>\n
Besides the new material, Saxon will also be adding some unique recordings of revisited classics to certain formats of the release, also produced by Byford and mastered by Andy Sneap, including an orchestral version of Crusader and an acoustic version of Frozen Rainbow.<\/p>\n
\u201cFrom the songs to the production, I wanted to focus on the raw aspects which made us great In the first place,\u201d concludes Biff, \u201cAnd living in that rawness, combined with some great classic Saxon-songwriting, has in my opinion, made Saxon fresher than ever.<\/p>\n
FORMATS:<\/p>\n
* standard jewel case CD
\n UDR 0152 CD
\n* limited edition deluxe digibook (including a bonus disc featuring the revisited classic tracks)
\n UDR 0150 CD
\n* vinyl LP Picture Disc
\n UDR 0153 LP
\n* direct to consumer (D2C) fan package available exclusively for online order from online retailers)
\n UDR 0156 D2C
\n* digital download plus one bonus song Luck of the Draw (exclusive to iTunes)
\n UDR 0155<\/p>\n
TRACK LISTING:<\/p>\n
1.\tProcession
\n2.\tSacrifice
\n3.\tMade In Belfast
\n4.\tWarriors Of The Road
\n5.\tGuardians Of The Tomb<\/p>\n
6.\tStand Up And Fight
\n7.\tWalking The Steel
\n8.\tNight Of The Wolf
\n9.\tWheels Of Terror
\n10.\tStanding in A Queue<\/p>\n
BONUS TRACK:<\/p>\n
Luck Of The Draw (on iTunes Only)<\/p>\n
BONUS DISC:<\/p>\n
1.\tCrusader (orchestral version)
\n2.\tJust Let Me Rock (Re-recorded version)
\n3.\tRequiem (Acoustic version)
\n4.\tFrozen Rainbow (Acoustic version)
\n5.\tForever Free (Re-recorded version)<\/p>\n
UK Tour Dates:<\/p>\n
Date\tCity\tVenue\tBox Office\tWebsites<\/p>\n
APRIL 2013<\/p>\n
Thu 18 \tLeamington \tSpa Assembly \t0844 854 1358 \twww.leamingtonassembly.com\/
\nFri 19 \tNottingham\tRock City \t0845 413 4444 \twww.rock-city.co.uk
\nSat 20 \tNewcastle\tO2 Academy\t0844 477 2000 \to2academynewcastle.co.uk
\nSun 21 \tGlasgow \tO2 ABC \t0844 844 4747 \twww.o2abcglasgow.co.uk
\nTue 23 \tManchester \tHMV Ritz \t0844 478 0898 \twww.hmvritz.com
\nWed 24 \tLeeds \tO2 Academy \t0844 477 2000 \twww.o2academyleeds.co.uk
\nFri 26 \tWolverhampton \tWulfrun Hall \t0844 478 0898 \twww.wolvescivic.co.uk
\nSat 27 \tLondon*\tO2 Shepherds Bush Empire \t0844 871 8803 \twww.kililive.com
\nSun 28 \tBristol \tO2 Academy \t0844 477 2000 \twww.o2academybristol.co.uk<\/p>\n
Tickets for all venues are priced at \u00a318.50 except for London* where they are \u00a320.00 (all subject to booking fee). Tickets available at Kililive.com Tel: 0844 871 8803 and usual outlets. Doors for all venues open at 7pm. <\/p>\n
After more than 35 years and 13 million albums sold worldwide, Saxon are still relentless and passionate as they were back in the days of \u2018Wheels of Steel\u2019 and \u2018Denim and Leather\u2019. The influential heavy metal outfit has been an inspiration for the likes of Metallica and Megadeth and a front-runner for the New Wave of British Heavy Metal sweeping the nation in the late 70s-early 80s. New Studio album \u2018Sacrifice\u2019 out on February 25th, will be album number 20 in their stellar career, and fans are as excited as they were when Saxon first made their initial impact on the metal scene.<\/p>\n
www.saxon.udr.music.com
\nwww.saxon747.com<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
WITH A storming new stomp in their boots and a renewed, lithe swagger to their legendary sound, Saxon will release \u201cSacrifice\u201d, on 25th February 2013 through UDR Records. Taking a sharper, re-invigorated approach to the production, on this, their 20th album, Saxon have produced 10 of their strongest, heaviest and most inspired songs for many-a-year, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":295,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2324","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-press_releases"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.livestagemusic.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2324","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.livestagemusic.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.livestagemusic.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.livestagemusic.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/295"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.livestagemusic.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2324"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.livestagemusic.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2324\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.livestagemusic.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2324"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.livestagemusic.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2324"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.livestagemusic.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2324"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}