Saxon’s follow up to the excellent Lionheart features the first studio recordings with returning drummer Nigel Glockler, who also provides atmospheric keyboards to boot. The Inner Sanctum continues the band’s artistic renaissance and in my opinion, improves upon Lionheart – and if you lived in my house for a few month’s after Lionheart was released you’ll know that’s high praise indeed. The Inner Sanctum is Saxon’s seventeenth album and although it’s difficult to compare work from different eras, I would say that it is one of their very best. Why? Well, because it’s remarkably heavy, the guitars are superlative, it sounds wonderful, it’s got more attitude than band’s a quarter of Saxon’s age and finally because Biff Byford gives a superlative performance on lead vocals. If Saxon were a football team, he would be leading from the front – he’d be Bobby Moore. 

State of Grace opens the album. Often the first song on a metal album just rocks along for the sake of it in order to get the listener into “rock” mode. Not here; State of Grace is much more brooding and powerful, yet restrained and shows a distinct maturity. Need for Speed, as the title suggests, fulfils the need for a speedy song up top. This is a song brim full of attitude and full of controlled power and aggression as indeed is Let Me Feel Your Power, which is the third song. 

It is at this point where the album’s key song appears. Red Star Falling is to quote the cliché, almost worth the price of admission all by itself. Saxon have always written about events outside the metal spectrum and this wonderful song deals with the fall of communism in a really quite simple and effective way – it asks what you were doing when the Berlin Wall came down and is a remarkably sensitive piece of work topped off by what is, quite possibly, Biff Byford’s finest vocals of his (very) long career. 

Just to show that they can be a little bit dumb, they follow Red Star Falling with I’ve Got To Rock (To Stay Alive), a sentiment that I’m sure we can all agree on. It says much about how good this CD is that the single If I Was You is arguably the worst song on it. The fairly horrible single version is tagged on at the end for good measure. 

The final quartet of songs keeps the standard high with Ashes to Ashes being particularly impressive. No doubt there will be those who will find the final track Attila the Hun amusing and laugh and guffaw but that would only show their own inadequacies.  

Saxon are touring shortly with Masterplan who also have a great album out. You wouldn’t want to miss that would you?

Let us know your views on 'The Inner Sanctum'

Track Listing

State Of Grace
Need For Speed
Let Me Feel Your Power
Red Star Falling
I've Got To Rock (To Stay Alive)
If I Was You
Going Nowhere Fast
Ashes To Ashes
Empire Rising
Atila The Hun

Line Up

Biff Byford - Vocals
Paul Quinn - Guitars
Doug Scarratt - Guitars
Nibbs Carter - Bass
Nigel Glockler - Drums