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Saxon > Call to Arms > Reviews
Saxon - Call to Arms

New and Saxon-y - 90%

Tanuki, January 15th, 2018

After Biff Byford's (successful) 2010 campaign to get heavy metal recognized as a religion in the UK Census, Saxon had some new scripture to write. Their Old Testament was rich with quotable gospels like Denim 5:24 ~ Thou shalt be unified, yea, and thy spirit set free by thy fashion sense, and Girls 4:19 ~ Thy women in tutelage shall abscond from her lessons to lay with factory workers. All well and good, things were coming along nicely, but what about that New Testament? People needed to be convinced that Saxon was still their caring shepherd for the new era of metal. Take it away, Call to Arms.

If you couldn't tell from the beat-up, sepia-toned album cover with an off-the-rack vinyl silhouette, this is a callback to arms, recounting the particulars of their early 80's songwriting more overtly than any Saxon album to date. Although the authenticity is immediately kneecapped by the squeaky clean production, nearly everything else checks out. Just look at those track times, for starters. You'd struggle to find that kind of unpretentious brevity outside of a Motörhead album. Not only does song structure immediately get to where it's going, but the whole bevy of Quinn and Scarratt's brawny, triumphant riffs have one clear, dedicated focus throughout this entire album.

This is typified by 'Ballad of the Working Man' - a little bit on the nose, perhaps - but populated by feelgood leads, endlessly charming in their nostalgia and simplicity. In many ways it reminds me of Riot V's recent work, which ever since Army of One has been a reproduction of the glorious Thundersteel. The gallant air of late 80's "victory" is so well-delivered, endowed with spontaneous and instinctive lyricism as well as gutsy fretwork. Unlike the past two Saxon albums, these tracks will keep echoing in your head a long time after you've listened to them, and you'll learn the lyrics faster than Biff Byford himself.

Speaking of Cardinal Byford, his vocal performance is a bit less adventurous in Call to Arms, but it's still capable of delivering everything it needs to. The pair of power ballads 'Mists of Avalon' and 'When Doomsday Comes' demonstrates his unblemished range, with a flourishing lower register and a smattering of high notes without the need for falsetto. If you prefer when Biff loses his mind and sings like the microphone is rigged to explode if his voice ever drops below sixty decibels, I could direct you to this album's designated speed demon 'Afterburner'. A crowd favorite for a laser-precise performance from all members, Biff's vocal chords don't sound like they've aged a day since Killing Ground, which was an entire decade ago.

The crowning achievement of this album, both symbolically and actually, is 'Surviving Against the Odds'. To be frank, Saxon has had some terrible odds. I would count most metal bands out when they start collaborating with Elton John, but apparently that was some sort of elaborate rope-a-dope tactic. This track has everything I loved about Lionheart: a razor sharp riff that could slice through solid rock, an extrusive solo that will put hairs on your chest hairs, and it's all topped off with a beefy chorus that demands audience accompaniment. And speaking of which, several lucky-ass Saxon fans in the Brighton area did accompany Saxon in 'Back in '79', professionally recorded as part of the song's call-and-response chorus.

Biff said he aimed for a "return to roots, working-class sound" for Call to Arms, and you'd have to hail from a different planet not to notice. Every solitary thing about this album - barring the prim production - is a raffish throwback to Saxon's genesis. If it wasn't for the plodding Deep Purple wannabe 'Chasing the Bullet' and the exceptionally unnecessary orchestral version of the title track, I would be happy listening to this album from start to finish, every single time. Call to Arms is emphatically recommended, and easily in my top five Saxon albums of all time.

Remember the fallen - 81%

Felix 1666, November 6th, 2015
Written based on this version: 2011, CD, UDR Music

Sarajevo, the 28th June of 1914. It is a warm and seemingly peaceful Sunday, until Gavrilo Princip, a young Serbian nationalist and member of a secret society called the Black Hand, kills the Austro-Hungarian heir to the throne and his wife. His murderous action triggers a complex chain reaction. It leads to the outbreak of the Great War. Five weeks later, legions of British, French, Belgian and German soldiers fight on the Western front, far away from the place of the assassination and without having a clearly defined aim. With regard to the fact that they had no alternative and partly due to their patriotic idealism, they have followed the call to arms.

The here presented album takes us back to the blood-drenched fields of Flanders. The emotional title track concentrates on the tragedy of the individual soldier. Its dramatic, slightly solemn aura fits the topic. The song turns out be an example of a successful metal ballad, irrespective of its exact configuration. As a matter of course, the neccessity of offering one and the same song twice is always debatable. But both the "normal" version and the orchestral alternative add value to the record. In addition, Biff interprets the subject with the appropriate amount of empathy. But "Call to Arms" is no concept album and offers a lot of different facets. Due to its fresh approach, the lively opener could be the work of a talented newcomer band. But this assumption is reduced to absurdity when looking at the title of the second track. The steadily growing "Back in 79" shines with its polyphonic background vocals while the lyrics relate to the pioneering (metal) days. Fortunately, its music does not build a bridge to the very early works of the long-lasting formation. Perhaps you agree that the debut of Saxon sounds pretty gruesome, at least from today's point of view.

Of course, the five venerable men are not totally immune against repetition. They offer more of the same, but they also know a lot of tricks to put the pieces together so that the overall picture is impressive. Additionally, the band integrates a few elements of its competitors. The vigorous "Chasing the Bullet" seems to be slightly influenced by Angus Young and his Australian rock empire. This applies in particular to the guitar line of the chorus. However, another inspiration is much more obvious. I hate to say it, but "When Doomsday Comes" is an embarrassing imitation of Deep Purple's "Perfect Strangers". To be more precise, it picks up the keyboard melody that appears at the end of the title track of Purple's comeback album of 1984. A good song, no doubt about it, and I do not want to assume a sinister intention. Nevertheless, I guess that this remarkable degree of conformity is more than problematic. Be that as it may, Saxon should not be dismissed as mere copyists. They mainly deliver independent songs and highlights like the powerful, mid-paced "No Rest for the Wicked" prove that the musicians are still not willing to think of their retirement. The same goes for the vehement "Afterburner", which borders on speed metal.

The clear and robust production of the album leaves no room for complaint. Due to the absence of compositional flops, "Call to Arms" is a product which does not show any serious shortcomings. Instead, it illustrates that Saxon still have a lot to say. The band does not lack of energy or motivation. It might sound quite pompous, but bands like Saxon keep the flame of traditional metal burning. They have no reservations concerning modern recording techniques, but the well established - only fools might say "old-fashioned" - song patterns remain unaffected. Furthermore, the lyrics, written by Biff, are not meaningless so that the songs feed the listener's mind. Maybe the title track delivers you the inspiration to read a good book about the outbreak of World War I, for example Christopher Clark's "The Sleepwalkers. How Europe Went to War in 1914". I promise that this will be well invested time.

Finally, British patriots may add some percent for the cover artwork. Please excuse that I cannot give a higher rating. I have benefitted from the so-called mercy of the late birth, but otherwise I would have stood on the other side, whether voluntary or not. However, remember the fallen of both parties.

These arms are for shooting. - 84%

hells_unicorn, April 2nd, 2015
Written based on this version: 2011, CD, UDR Music

If there is a slogan that could properly capture the spirit and nature of Saxon's current musical direction, it would be "stick to what you know, but mix it up a bit". It could be likened to having one's cake and eating it to since these elder NWOBHM statesmen are taking advantage of current studio technology to bolster an archaic, traditional style of metal, but it is definitely a formula that works well for them. This isn't to say that there isn't a clear rustic charm to Saxon's early 80s output, but the added punch of the instruments and the amplification of Byford's gravely shouts are definitely an asset to this band's recent works, along with taking a few occasional cues from some younger power metal outfits that they've associated with in recent years such as Freedom Call and HammerFall. It is in this spirit of moving ahead while keeping one's roots centered in an established, working formula that Call To Arms enters the fray of the 2010s.

Following a very gradual evolutionary scheme, this collection of songs shares a collective commonality with its two immediate predecessors The Inner Sanctum and Into The Labyrinth, though differing slightly in its overall consistency. While the latter of the two in question and also this album's immediate predecessor came off as slightly uneven due to the massive luster of its epic, quasi-power metal anthems alongside more traditional rocking fair, this album tends a bit closer to the former album and opts for a more basic metallic formula with fewer and more isolated epic moments. The result is something that is more streamlined, though still something of a mixed affair stylistically, employing occasional lighter 80s trappings and massive sounding power metal elements, but otherwise sticking to a sound that is fairly close to the rocking, metallic and occasionally sappy as heard on parts of Crusader and a bit more so on Rock The Nations.

The mixture on display here, while a bit more nuanced then recent prior outings, is nevertheless nicely varied and in keeping with a varied display of older guard metal traditionalism and recent power metal revivalism. On the faster end, "Hammer Of The Gods" and "Afterburner" offer up a solid display of speedy riffing and energy that wouldn't be out of place on a Judas Priest album between 1982 and 1988, not to mention some killer lead guitar interchanges to give Tipton and Downing a run for their money. Bringing up the larger sounding, epic, Manowar-infused character of recent power metal in a similar mode to several standout songs from the last two albums are "Call To Arms" with a haunting clean verse trading blows with a heavy ended, stomping chorus (the orchestral alternative version further accents the Manowar tendencies) and "When Doomsday Comes", which while maybe not as massive sounding as "Battalions Of Steel" or "Attila The Hun", presents a similarly impressive musical affair in a shorter duration.

For the most part, the songs that round out the listen are a bit more in line with a traditional 80s album, though that alone allows for a potentially diverse affair. The result here is a two-fold mix of mid-paced grooving with an Accept flavor circa Metal Heart and lighter, almost AOR material that doesn't quite hit the Destiny button, but definitely flirts with it. Of the heavier variety of the former is a nice, chunky anthem of fast living in "Chasing The Bullet", with a nearly as heavy but more Ozzy influenced crusher auspiciously named "No Rest For The Wicked", as if Saxon were making a not so subtle tribute to one of the even older guard, embodying the characteristic sound of the song's studio namesake no less. Rounding out the list of highlights (which encompass about 75% of the album) is a rather jarring shift into keyboard-tinged late 80s territory, albeit with some recent power metal elements, in "Mists Of Avalon". While definitely on the lighter side of things for this album, this song definitely listens closer to what made Into The Labyrinth a strong album, and probably could have improved its overall strength had it stood in the place of some of the cookie-cutter rock filler on there.

Making an analogy of Saxon being like a fine wine would be a bit of a stretch since it's tough to content with the power of their early 80s material, but while they may not have gotten better with age, they have most certainly not gotten any worse for it. Barring a few really parochial old school fans that want an absolute carbon copy of Wheels Of Steel every time an album comes out, this is an effort that any fan of NWOBHM and its various current stylistic cousins can sink their proverbial teeth into. Make ready for the trenches mates, because Lord Kitchener says it's time for the Britons to reclaim the field yet again from the Teutonic hordes.

It seems that only death can stop them - 89%

TitaniumNK, November 30th, 2011

They just can’t stop. Fourteen years after their resurrection, ’’Unleash the Beast’’, Saxon have not released a single album that isn’t very good at least, and some of them are excellent (’’Unleash the Beast’’, ’’Killing Ground’’, ’’The Inner Sanctum’’). Truth to be said, none of those albums is a classic or a masterpiece in the range of ’’Wheels of Steel’’ or ’’Denim and Leather’’, but, fuck, after their late ’80s misfires such as ’’Rock the Nations’’ and ’’Destiny’’, who’d knew that Saxon will kick some major ass twenty years later? Saxon’s story is one of the most unique in whole history of metal, since there are very few bands that didn’t completely musically fall apart after several disastrous albums (e.g. Metallica), but instead, they found strength to keep on rocking and rolling.

Good news that will certainly please their older fans, is that on this album Saxon is returning to their trademark NWOBHM, of course with modern (and truly excellent) sound. This is a continuation of tendency shown on the previous ’’Into the Labyrinth’’, in opposite to almost power metal shown on ’’Lionheart’’ and ’’The Inner Sanctum’’. Everyone who was with Saxon back in ’79 (pun intended) will be very pleased with these new songs: ’’Back in ’79’’, ’’Surviving Against the Odds’’ (my personal favourite), ’’Afterburner’’ and ’’Ballad of the Working Man’’. All of them are good ol’ NWOBHM tracks delivered with flame and passion typical for Saxon. Although all band members are in their fifties (Biff Byford is even 60 years old), they remained youngsters at heart, and they won’t stop until their last breath.

Sure, there are some songs that represent modern Saxon, and that would be opener ’’Hammer of the Gods’’, ’’Mists of Avalon’’ and title track. The title track is one of the best songs Saxon wrote in last 20 years, truly magnificent and tragic. Thematically, it reminds a lot of Maiden’s mind-blowing ’’Paschendale’’ and it will certainly go among Saxon’s best of one day. Unfortunately, there are also several forced and uninspired songs, such as ’’When Doomsday Comes’’, ’’No Rest for the Wicked’’ and totally unnecessary orchestral version of the title track, but in the end, they cannot ruin an impression that this is very strong release from a very old band. This is their nineteenth studio album, for God’s sake. How many bands are there that sound this powerful, motivated and convincing on their nineteenth album? Not much, definitely.

There isn’t much to say about band performance and production; they’re on par with previous releases, which means fantastic.

I wasn’t surprised with great quality of this album, since I didn’t expect anything less from Saxon. It is a great ride that will please all Saxon fans, no matter how old they are, they’ll enjoy this album. Their winning streak is continued, and Saxon have still much to say. They don’t have to prove anything to anyone, they are playing for their enjoyment, and you can easily hear that. Long live Saxon and may they give us a lot of great music in the future!

Takes me back to a simple life (well… not really) - 85%

naverhtrad, August 4th, 2011

My introduction to the Yorkshire Brit-metallers was through Power & the Glory and The Eagle Has Landed, so the bluesy, melodic rock sound was what I came to expect from Saxon (even during their infamous glam-metal days, they retained this characteristic)… right up until the point where I put on the widely-lauded Lionheart and immediately did a double-take. Was this the same band? As it turns out, it very much was. However, their sound on Lionheart, as on The Inner Sanctum was harder, cleaner, meaner, more power-metallic, more German (surely the inclusion of Jörg Michael on said album had nothing to do with that?). Imagine my surprise when I put on Call to Arms and discovered that, while not a total throwback, was at least enough of one to recall their early sound? My parents weren’t even married when the first Saxon albums appeared, so naturally this isn’t a nostalgic review for me – but I can easily imagine how it might be one for one of the fans who went to see them ‘Back in ‘79’!

It’s immensely difficult for a band to keep going for over 30 years straight and still keep going strong, without descending into outright self-parody in terms of their musical style and content. Saxon comes damn close, with good old Biff bellowing about Viking invaders, airplanes, war (from the ambivalent and vulnerable perspective of the man on the front lines, naturally), ancient British history and mythology in a nearly paint-by-numbers fashion… but they perform it all with conviction, which I think keeps them from going straight over that ledge.

They have the Lionheart-style power metal opener, ‘Hammer of the Gods’; the slow, epic, elegiac title track, ‘Call to Arms’ (two versions, the latter having a largely cosmetic orchestral accompaniment); the obligatory speed-metal blazer ‘Afterburner’; several strong-but-not-particularly-memorable mid-tempo rockers (including the somewhat sentimental mythologising on ‘Mists of Avalon’), and then there are the songs which sound like they’ve stepped through the Militia Guardian of Forever for a pure and shameless nostalgia trip. And I’m not just talking about ‘Back in ‘79’, though that’s enough in itself. There’s ‘Surviving Against the Odds’, which is very much an upbeat NWoBHM number in the style of Denim and Leather, with even the underdog-championing lyrical content mirroring ‘Never Surrender’. There’s ‘Chasing the Bullet’, which is pure blues-rock, however glorified and metallised – it comes with a lockstep ‘this-is-how-you-will-headbang’ drum line and predictable if well-executed guitar riffs, which likewise sounds like it would be perfectly at home on one of their early albums. And naturally, there’s my favourite song on this album (given my lefty proclivities) – ‘Ballad of the Working Man’. As Biff sings, ‘it’s not so complicated’; these guys are rocking with their collars out, and dude, they’re bluer than the North Sea on a clear day. The musical style is a complete throwback, with a gumby blues-rock tempo, happy guitar lines, a simple song structure, and the lyrics are fit to match: ‘no matter where you’re going, remember where you’ve been!’

True to his word, this album hearkens back to the high points of Saxon’s career, proving that they are still capable of growing in their current direction while at the same paying due homage to what they’ve already done. The musical style on Call to Arms is a successful synthesis of their old material into the new style they have inhabited over their three prior albums. Production is clear, mixing is alright (though the accompaniment on both versions of ‘Call to Arms’ sound overmixed to the point of collapsing in on itself, which is a shame… one would expect an over-the-top sympho-power band like Turisas to make that kind of choice, but on a Saxon album it sounds kind of out-of-place). All of the instrumentation is more than proficient; but, particularly at the edges of his range, Biff does sound a bit like age is catching up with him.

There’s a reason Saxon continues to be one of my favourite bands, in spite of their glammy / hard-rock middle years, and this album pretty much exemplifies it. They’re pretty much straight-up rockers; they put on no frilly progressive pretenses, but they also sing about serious matters. They’ve shown an amazing adaptability over the years, thus showing that the underdogs do, in fact, sometimes end up on top.

Makes me right proud of me Cooper side Yorkshire roots, it does.

17 / 20

Armed, and still pretty dangerous - 78%

autothrall, June 3rd, 2011

If you had told me 20 years ago that Saxon would still be alive and well in the 21st century, releasing viable and even extraordinary albums, I doubt I would have believed you. Apart from Motörhead, they are perhaps the one long-term NWOBHM act who not only persist, but actively challenge themselves and come out fighting with records arguably as strong as their classics. Whilst Iron Maiden and Judas Priest are pushing up daisies, sating their audiences on brand names alone and diminishing songwriting capacity, Biff Byford and his troops have forged on with great records like Unleash the Beast, The Inner Sanctum, Lionheart and Into the Labyrinth.

Granted, some purists who fancy only the most blue-collar roots of the band on classics like "Wheels of Steel" or "Power and the Glory" might feel turned off at the modern studio climate and surges of power metal aggression the band espouse in recent years, but a little variation does nothing to dull the band's inspirational, incessant devotion to quality. Call to Arms, their 19th full-length, delivers on all fronts, a blend of classic NWOBHM/hard rock tracks and faster paced material for the younger audience. "Hammer of the Gods", "Afterburner" and "Surviving the Odds" all offer the savage nigh-on speed metal that dwells upon their threshold of aggression, replete with soaring choruses, Byford stretching his elder lungs to the max.

Meanwhile, those interested in the band's 80s, power ballad-to-balls fare will be thrilled with "Mists of Avalon" and "No Rest for the Wicked" which hearken back to Rock the Nations, Destiny and other examples of their work in the genre's Golden decade; and if it's the more 'epic' Saxon you seek (circa Metalhead, Into the Labyrinth, Killing Ground) then you've got "When Doomsday Comes". There are few if any missteps. "Ballad of the Working Man" has a decent swagger and melody line to it, but otherwise moves to the rear of the pack; while the big rock of "Back in 79", in which the band recruited a pile of fans to provide the later backing chorus, is not that great a tune outside of its cute gimmick...

The production sounds superb as it has for the past seven records, and the streak of memorable songwriting continues, even if the album isn't wholly consistent. Saxon proudly joins the ranks of Accept and Anvil in bringing the inspiration to yet another decade, this one ridden with old school heavy metal wannabes that are being proven redundant by the originators! Call to Arms is not the monolith of quality that Unleash the Beast and The Inner Sanctum both proved to be, but it thrusts a wrench to the jawbone of irrelevancy, and time itself is going to have to work a lot harder to steer these old dogs off the scent.

-autothrall
http://www.fromthedustreturned.com