SAXON: Behind-The-Scenes Footage From 'Hammer Of The Gods' Video Shoot

Behind-the-scenes footage from the video shoot for"Hammer Of The Gods", the new single from British […]

By Steinmetal

• June 3, 2011

Behind-the-scenes footage from the video shoot for"Hammer Of The Gods", the new single from British heavy metal legendsSAXON, can be viewed below.

Packing an armory of steel-coated riffs and songwriting swagger,SAXONwill release its 19th studio album titled"Call To Arms"viaMilitia Guard Music,UDRandEMIon the following dates:

* Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Spain, The Netherlands, Belgium, Sweden, Norway: June 3
* U.K., Finland, Denmark: June 6
* Greece, Poland: June 8
* France: June 10

Recorded atChapel Studiosin Lincolnshire, U.K. andBrighton Electric Studiosin Brighton, U.K., the 11-track album was co-produced by singer/songwriterBiff ByfordandToby Jepson(LITTLE ANGELS). FeaturingByfordon lead vocals,Paul QuinnandDoug Scarratton guitars,Nibs Carteron bass andNigel Glockleron drums,"Call To Arms"is bang on-the-money brilliantSAXONmusic, a confident embrace of the aura and writing values from their early years married perfectly to a modernSAXONcrunch.

"This is probably the best album we've written and recorded in the last 20 years," statesBiff Byfordunapologetically. "I know a lot of bands say that, but'Call To Arms'really does feel like that to me. It's the perfect embrace of our past with a great modern edge."

Between the furious riffage of"Hammer Of The Gods"all the way through to"Ballad Of The Working Man",SAXONalso found time to invite fans to sing on the nostalgic stomp of"Back In '79"thanks to aByfordbrainwave the night before recording.

"We put something up on our website 24 hours before recording the track in Brighton, and funnily enough we had exactly 79 people show up on time to sing on the song. It was a fantastic result which is a direct tribute to'Denim & Leather'where we did the same exact thing."

There is also a guest appearance from keyboard legendDon Airey(RAINBOW,ELO,OZZY OSBOURNE,DEEP PURPLE) on"When Doomsday Comes".

"We were at the American embassy in different lines queuing for our visas and by the time we'd got them, Don had agreed to come and play on the song," chucklesByford.

It will also feature alongside the track"No Rest For The Wicked"in the forthcoming movie"Hybrid Theory", a sci-fi thriller which follows a group of British soldiers who find themselves in a life or death battle with an enemy far beyond their wildest nightmares. The film is directed byJames Erskin, who made"One Night In Turin"about England at the World Cup in 1990.

"We've done our darker albums, our full-on metal albums, we've been to those spaces and experimented with them and people came on the journey with us," saysByford, "and with'Call To Arms'you have the culmination of those 10 years and the 20 years before it. I love this album. I love the songs. I love the sounds. It's right on the money."

"Call To Arms"track listing:

01.Hammer Of The Gods
02.Back In '79
03.Surviving Against The Odds
04.Mists Of Avalon
05.Call To Arms
06.Chasing The Bullet
07.Afterburner
08.When Doomsday Comes (Hybrid Theory)
09.No Rest For The Wicked
10.Ballad Of The Working Man
11.Call To Arms(orchestral version)