Where would rock stars be without their little secrets? The legendary history of a band, the magic of their music, and the depth of their lyrics - all this is part of the fascination that a successful act such as Saxon exudes. Naturally, the band members keep the very private moments of their lives to themselves, but their current album, The Inner Sanctum, allows an honest insight into the rather unusual working process that went into the new songs. “The past 12 months were undeniably the most successful year in our career to date, so we knew that it would be a good idea to start collecting ideas and write the songs early,” comments vocalist Biff Byford. “All through the last summer, we used the weekdays between the festival weekends to concentrate on working on our albums. We hired rehearsal rooms in Germany, Spain and England, where we ensconced ourselves for three days during the week, before travelling to the next festival. We’d never gone about things this way before, but as you can see it worked.”

Byford has every reason to be satisfied with the result. “The Inner Sanctum is a typical Saxon recording that kicks off with real heavy metal, followed by a couple of rock’n’roll numbers, returning to metal towards the end,” he describes his group’s new offering, which – between the uptempo numbers, ‘Atila The Hun’ and ´Let Me Feel Your Power’ (which unconditionally lives up to its title), the anthemnic midtempo track ‘Red Star Falling’, the groove rocker ‘I’ve Got To Rock (To Stay Alive)’, reminiscent of the glorious ‘Strong Arm Of The Law’ era, and ‘Going Nowhere Fast’ – covers the whole range of a typical Saxon masterpiece. The brand-new single ‘If I Was You’ has been available as a download since January 26, 2007. As far as Byford is concerned, The Inner Sanctum is on a par with his band’s great classics: “I’d say the album is in the style of Metalhead and Lionheart with a little bit of Solid Ball Of Rock; a number of tracks have an Eighties feel, but at the same time the production is very modern.”

Charlie Bauerfeind was in charge of the driving sound, filtering out the typical Saxon elements of each song to incorporate them in a contemporary production. All those who have known Saxon since the Eighties and followed their amazing development, the band never neglecting their typical trademarks, will love The Inner Sanctum. “We oriented ourselves mainly to our live sound, and the production sounds like a mix of Lionheart and Metalhead, although slightly more topical.” The album title refers to the same-named TV show, which has viewers present their homes live in front of the rolling camera. That’s something Saxon would probably never do, still The Inner Sanctum is without question among the most authentic and candid releases in the whole career of this great band.

HISTORY
Saxon’s 1979 debut already hinted that a rough diamond was about to emerge. Their second recording, Wheels Of Steel, tuned into a mega seller, as Saxon went on to tour all over the world. The successor, Strong Arm Of The Law, and especially their double platinum release Denim And Leather (1981) reinforced Saxon’s reputation. Tours of America, an appearance at the Monsters Of Rock festival in Castle Donington, and the live album The Eagle Has Landed (1982) (according to Melody Maker “one of the best live recordings of the decade”) followed. Power And Glory (1983) was another classic that caused a stir, particularly in the States. Crusader (1984), oriented towards the US radio charts, was greeted by the odd critical voice that complained about Saxon’s supposed mainstream ambitions. Innocence Is No Excuse in particular met with mixed reactions. “Our Def Leppard album,” was Biff’s retrospective comment on this unusually melodic recording. Rock The Nation and Destiny also faced fair to middling reviews. “Record company and management tried to gear us towards the American market,” Biff explains the Saxon sound of those days. Following a two-year break, the band returned in 1990 with a new record contract and their impressive comeback, Solid Ball Of Rock. The two subsequent releases, Forever Free and Dogs Of War, and the ensuing tour kept the band on their toes, while Saxon succeeded in consolidating their impressive live reputation. Their 1996 live album, The Eagle Has Landed II, followed by Unleash The Beast and Metalhead, proved that the band were ready to face the new millennium, as they went on to release Killing Ground, their best-of release, Heavy Metal Thunder, and their first DVD, The Saxon Chronicles. Following their 2004 release, Lionheart, the band embarked on one of the longest and most successful tours of their career, a fact that is also reflected in their current release, The Inner Sanctum: rarely have Saxon gone about their business in such a spirited and enthusiastic style.