Sacrifice

If it is stipulated that the 1980s was a period of volatility in Saxon's extensive career, the turn of the millennium has most definitely ushered in an era of rigid, militaristic consistency for said NWOBHM proponents. Whether one wishes to attribute this to the band learning the hard way that playing to a fickle mainstream with watered down arena rock is a bad idea, or just a continued practice of following trends in metal circles that began pointing back to a harder edged sound in the later 1990s, things have definitely tended quite a bit closer to a heavier, but still rock oriented take on things. If there is any gripe to be made about the direction being taken, it is that Saxon has found themselves largely repeating the same general formula with about the same narrowness as AC/DC. Nevertheless, for anyone that hungers for the sort of fun loving early 80s sound that first ushered in the Saxon beast, the past several albums have been a predictable mix of good and solid, and Sacrifice continues the tradition without fail.

In relation to recent endeavors such as The Inner Sanctum and Into The Labyrinth, this album shares a fair amount of commonality, though it differs in being a bit less lopsided and more consistently on target. A few songs such as "Guardians Of The Tomb" and the title song "Sacrifice" tend to stand out in having a more grandiose, to the point of being slightly power metal-like flavor to them, but the atmosphere is a bit more toned down with fewer keyboard elements and massive chorus sections than parallel songs on the two aforementioned albums. There is also a somewhat enthralling yet fleeting acoustic gimmick that paints the extremities of "Made In Belfast", but the overall feel of things is much chunkier and reliant on punchy guitar grooves and a pummeling metallic edge. Though some of this can be credited to a guitar sound that is a bit heavier than the last couple of albums, the overall tone and tenor of this album definitely leans towards a Judas Priest character.

In essence, Sacrifice carries that same early period spirit of raw aggression that doesn't quite turn into speed metal, but flirts with it fairly frequently. Much of what rounds out the contents of this album is about as catchy and captivating as the denser, more epic sounding material, but does so with a basic set of riffs and an old school sense of speed and fury. "Warriors Of The Road" and "Stand Up And Fight" are the most memorable of the bunch, with the latter having a slight bit of a Ram It Down air to it with a shred happy guitar presentation but an otherwise sing-song character to it. "Night Of The Wolf" has more of a creeping sense of speed and relies a bit more on guitar work than speedy drums to get the job done, and it also brings back some atmospheric elements into play here and there. But perhaps the biggest dose of old school excitement is the guitar solo section of "Wheels Of Terror", an otherwise mid-tempo crusher that shifts into a thrill ride to rival much of Primal Fear's handiwork.

With more than half of this band being well past 60 years old, it's astounding to think that they still have enough energy to make music like this, but surprisingly enough everyone is still at the top of their game here, particularly Biff Byford. This sounds young and powerful enough to have been put together by a band half as old as the one featured here, but with an execution that is just a tad too polished and nuanced to have been put together back in the early 80s when Saxon was at their metallic zenith. While it would definitely be presumptuous to fully liken this album to Wheels Of Steel and Strong Arm Of The Law, those are the albums that come to mind when trying to nail down the nature of these songs. It has become a bit of a cliche to say that one is never too old for metal, mostly because bands like Saxon continue to validate it. One could even argue that the title "Sacrifice" is a tad inappropriate, given that little would be lost in giving this baby a spin.