Saxon - Gods of Thunder

Saxon reach their 25th studio album with Gods of Thunder, a record steeped in myth, history and the heavy metal spirit the band helped define.

Due in 2027 as the follow-up to Hell, Fire and Damnation, it finds Biff Byford in the producer's chair, with longtime ally Andy Sneap handling the mix. Byford is joined by drummer Nigel Glockler, bassist Nibbs Carter and the twin guitars of Doug Scarratt and Diamond Head co-founder Brian Tatler.

Byford has always been a storyteller, and here he digs into Celtic legend on the title track and Tudor intrigue on The Bloody Tower (The Ballad of Anne Boleyn). Remember the Alamo charges along in the spirit of early 1980s New Wave of British Heavy Metal, while closer MI5 heads into Cold War territory, all Berlin Wall shadows and espionage. Across ten songs, horror, fantasy and pagan rites share space with the band's enduring faith in rock 'n' roll itself.

The twin guitar attack is front and center throughout, the riffs tight and the pace relentless, exactly what longtime fans have always come to Saxon for.

Nearly five decades after Wheels of Steel, the band sound energized, and Byford has every reason to call this one to beat.