Carpe Diem

When it comes to music, I always try to be positive. One of my fundamental principles is that I believe that creativity doesn’t cease with age. If a band have released great music in the past, my point of view is that are able to do it again, wether it be 2 years later och 20 years later. For that reason, I have always had an open mindset when it comes to new music released by legacy bands. Unlike many, I am always eager to hear what these bands have come up with in recent times, and I never rule out the chance of these bands releasing a new classic.
However, sometimes it gets to a point where even I have to re-consider things. If there is one thing that has disturbed my musical mind in the last decade, it is the fact that many legacy bands have fallen victims of what I often refer to as the ”Andy Sneap-trap”. This trap can refer to a lot of things, but when push comes to shove, it can more or less be reduced to two things.

1. A nostalgic and stripped-down approach in terms of sound and songwriting.

2. A compressed, modern production with an absence of musical dynamics, often driven by the visions of producer Andy Sneap.

When writing this, I must emphasize that I don’t discount Andy Sneap of principle. In the early 00s, he played a major role in revitalizing the careers of bands like Megadeth, Exodus and Testament, and for that he shall be praised. However, in the last decade he seems to have been obsessed by a certain soundscape and a desire to use this soundscape for EVERY band he works with. This includes major metal acts like Judas Priest, Accept, Saxon, Testament and Overkill. The outcome has been a metal landscape that IMO is devoid of originality, genuineness and ambition.

If you look at some of the most classic albums from the bands mentioned, they all had a unique, distinctive sound. Something that set them apart from other, contemporary bands and albums. Nowadays, the albums released by these bands are more or less a copy of their latest one and a copy of the albums released by the other bands. They sound the same and are built upon the same musical ingredients. If you discount the vocals, which is the only thing that differs the bands from each other, it sounds like all these albums could have been released by the same band. As far as I’m concerned, hiring Andy Sneap as your producer is the same as to say that you don’t care about originality and creativity any more, and that your only goal is to release albums for the sake of releasing albums. It’s a sad state really. If I’m going to point out something positive about this, it is that Andy Sneap at least prevents the bands from releasing abominations like ”Eat The Heat”, ”Risk” or ”Force To Habit”. With Andy Sneap at the helm, you will never release a 0/10 album. On the other hand, you will never release a 10/10 album either. What you’ll get is basically albums that varie between 6/10 and 8/10, and a situation where some albums work better than others.

You may wonder why I waste my and your time with this rant? Well, because the album this review is written for, Saxon’s latest album ”Carpe Diem” from 2022, can best be described as the latest addition to this monotonic mess. I’ve been a Saxon fan for many years and even if I haven’t heard all their albums yet, I’ve heard more than enough to know what I can expect from the band. For that reason, I was pleasantly surprised when I heard their second to last album, ”Thunderbolt” from 2018, as that album showed a hungry, ambitious band that wanted to show the world they could still deliver the goods, but also a mature band that could use their experience to improve their songwriting and overall ability to create something memorable. Therefore, it was a disappointment to hear that ”Carpe Diem” didn’t have any of those things.
The songwriting on this album is very safe and predictable, to the point of being bland and boring, and nothing strikes you as truly memorable. Overall, this album is surrounded by the same sense of conformity and laziness that Andy Sneap’s production is, and the fact that the album was produced by him also gives it the exact same sound as you would hear on a Testament, Overkill, Accept and Judas Priest album. So there is literally nothing new, fresh and original under the sun. It seems to me that Andy Sneap’s way of doing things has influenced the band’s creative process, and not in a positive way. The only thing that is remarkable about ”Carpe Diem” is how extremely unremarkable it is.

What about the actual songs on the album you may wonder? Well, the sad thing is that there isn’t much to say. The songs are basically metal by numbers, surrounded by a feel of being written on auto-pilote. As with any album, you will find songs that you like more than others. In this instance, songs like the title track, ”Age Of Steam”, ”Super Nova” and ”Living On The Limit” might contribute to boost my enjoyment of the album, but it would be a stretch to call them genuinly amazing. They just happen to be the most enjoyable songs on an overall mediocre and faceless affair. On the other hand, there is no songs that I would consider to be awful or even weak. They are just mediocre and bland all the way through. And perhaps that’s where the biggest problem lies. Say what you want about turds like ”Risk” and ”Eat The Heat”, but at least you remember them. It might not be for positive reasons, but you can at least talk about them. With ”Carpe Diem”, it’s hard to even talk about it, since I feel like there is nothing to talk about. To me, it is actually impressive how much this album lacks replay value. If anything, this is the type of album that will be listened to 2-3 times before being put to a shelf and never be played again.

You may think I’m too harsh with this review. Can I really have such high expectations on a band that has been around for 40+ years and most likely have retired in 5-10 years? Yes, I can. Iron Maiden has been around for as long as Saxon, yet they still find ways to reinvente themselves and push their creative boundaries. I know Saxon can do that too. They showed it 3 years ago when they released ”Thunderbolt”, and it makes me disappointed to hear that they couldn’t do it again. If they would have invested more time in the music, and actually tried to create something fresh and original, would this album have been better? I want to believe so.

Like I said, ”Carpe Diem” is not an unique case. If anything, it can be considered as the latest prey to the ”Andy Sneap-trap”, the trend that has plagued the heavy metal landscape in the last decade. The most frustrating thing though, is that both the bands themselves and the majority of the fans refuse to acknowledge this problem. Don’t the bands want to be creative anymore? Are they just phoning it in? It seems to me they are. And don’t the fans want to hear something more creative than this? Don’t they have demands? It seems to me they don’t. I know I have, because I know what these bands are actually capable of, and as long as they continue to create lazy, uninspired music like this, I will not talk about their modern music in positive terms. Sadly. If this is the route they decide to go on, they might as well retire, because then their days of creativity and innovation are over. Thank god I have broadened my horizons and made myself open to more modern metal. If I hadn’t, I definitely would have been lost in this monotonic mess.