Saxon’s “Into The Labyrinth” Cover Art and Track Listing
British metal legends SAXON will release their new download single, “Live To Rock”, followed by the arrival at the stores of their current studio album, “Into The Labyrinth”, as well as major tours to support both releases.
“Live To Rock” is available as an Internet download starting today (October 17), and SAXON will present the track live for the first time during the tour which will take Biff Byford and company alongside MOTÖRHEAD and DANKO JONES through England and Germany in November/December 2008. SAXON‘s new studio album, “Into The Labyrinth”, will be out on January 12, 2009 (Germany: January 9; USA: January 13). February 2009 will see the band embark on another major world tour, only one month after the album release.
“Into The Labyrinth” was recorded at the Twilight Hall in Krefeld, Germany, under the direction of Charlie Bauerfeind. SAXON laid down 13 new songs at BLIND GUARDIAN‘s studio, starting with monumental opener “Battalions Of Steel” through “Demon Sweeney Todd” and “Valley Of The Kings”, which both cover historic events, to the final slide guitar blues track “Coming Home” (fans are already familiar with the electric version of this track from SAXON‘s “Killing Ground” album).
“The new material was written in England and at my house in France,” Byford explains. “Stylistically, I would describe the album as an even balance between ‘Lionheart’ and ‘The Inner Sanctum’, a mix of powerful, in-your-face rock songs and pure heavy metal tracks. We’re very happy with the production and proud of ‘Into The Labyrinth’.”
Aestheticom‘s Bill Schacht, who has previously directed music videos for DIO, KING DIAMOND, AMON AMARTH, FATAL SMILE, LIBERTY X/REV RUN, ZAKK WYLDE and SISTER SIN, among others, recently completed filming footage for the “Live To Rock” clip.
“Into The Labyrinth” track listing:
Limited-Edition Digipack (only available in Europe):
01. Battalions Of Steel
02. Live To Rock
03. Demon Sweeney Todd
04. The Letter
05. Valley Of The Kings
06. Slow Lane Blues
07. Crime Of Passion
08. Premonition in D Minor
09. Voice
10. Protect Yourselves
11. Hellcat
12. Come Rock Of Ages (The Circle Is Complete)
13. Coming Home (Bottleneck Version)
Bonus DVD:
* Parzival movie with Biff acting as King Arthur
* Tour Documentary
* “Live To Rock” video clip
* Audio Interview with Biff Byford
Running time: approximately 70 minutes
Jewel Case Version:
01. Battalions Of Steel
02. Live To Rock
03. Demon Sweeney Todd
04. The Letter
05. Valley Of The Kings
06. Slow Lane Blues
07. Crime Of Passion
08. Premonition in D Minor
09. Voice
10. Protect Yourselves
11. Hellcat
12. Come Rock Of Ages (The Circle Is Complete)
13. Coming Home (Bottleneck Version)
2-LP Gatefold:
Side 1:
01. Battalions Of Steel
02. Live To Rock
03. Demon Sweeney Todd
Side 2:
01. The Letter
02. Valley Of The Kings
03. Slow Lane Blues
04. Crime Of Passion
Side 3:
01. Premonition in D Minor
02. Voice
03. Protect Yourselves
Side 4:
01. Hellcat
02. Come Rock Of Ages (The Circle Is Complete)
03. Coming Home (Bottleneck Version)
Saxon’s last release “Inner Sanctum” totally caught me off guard and blew me away! I hope this one is 1/2 as good as that one! Can’t wait!!!