Metal legends Saxon will release Carpe Diem, their 23rd studio album, on February 4, 2022 via Silver Lining Music.
Produced by Andy Sneap (Judas Priest, Exodus, Accept and Priest guitarist) at Backstage Recording Studios in Derbyshire with Byford and Sneap mixing and mastering, Carpe Diem strikes the ear as an essential British metal statement.
“It all starts with the riff,” says frontman and co-founder Biff Byford. “If the riff speaks to me, then we’re on our way. It’s a very intense album, and that’s all down to the fact that the essence of a great metal song is the riff that starts it, and this album has loads of them.”
Speaking on the album’s title track, Byford adds: “In Latin it means ‘seize the day’ and I think it’s a great thing to say. It’s what the Romans used to say to each other on a regular basis, apparently, never having met one, I wouldn’t know! But we’re gonna do the Seize The Day world tour, the album’s Carpe Diem, this song’s called “Carpe Diem (Seize the Day)” and it’s such a powerful thing to say.”
The genesis of Carpe Diem’s fierce intensity lies in two extremely significant life events. “It’s been a difficult two years because I had the heart attack back in September 2019, so things went a bit pear-shaped for the band,” Biff explains. “And then Covid hit two or three months later, but luckily, we started writing and recording this album before Covid. We did the drums in Germany and we did the guitars in various places. I was doing a lot of writing while I was in the hospital bed, and we spent quite a long time writing and arranging the ideas that we all had. I do think it’s a very intense album, and maybe some of that intensity comes from the frustration of not being able to do anything in the Covid period.”
Carpe Diem will be available in a variety of formats and pre-orders can be placed here.
Carpe Diem track listing:
01. Carpe Diem (Seize The Day)
02. Age Of Steam
03. The Pilgrimage
04. Dambusters
05. Remember The Fallen
06. Super Nova
07. Lady In Gray
08. All For One
09. Black Is The Night
10. Living On The Limit
This post first appeared on Rock Confidential.
Saxon Announce ‘Carpe Diem’ Album, Release Video For The Title Track
