Saxon have written and recorded seven tracks for what will be their 22nd album, frontman Biff Byford has confirmed.
He previously revealed that one of the songs on the follow-up to 2015’s Battering Ram would be a tribute to late Motorhead icon Lemmy titled They Played Rock And Roll. And now he says they have more songs in the bag – but fans will have to wait until early 2018 for the record.
Byford tells The Metal Voice: “We’ve recorded seven songs already. I finished the vocals just before we came to the US.
“We’ve actually got three or four more songs, but I think we’re going to write three more for the album. We’ll rent a studio when we’re on festivals and then we’ll write some songs.”
He adds: “It’s being recorded with Andy Sneap. He’s gone off to do Judas Priest while we’re here. In September, we’ll be finished with that, hopefully. It will be out in 2018 – maybe January.”
Byford says one of the new tracks is titled Nosferatu and that he enjoys listening to Killswitch Engage, Five Finger Death Punch and Machine Head – and hints that they’ll team up with someone “hardcore” on the as-yet-untiled record.
He says: “On the next album, we’re maybe going to do a duet with somebody who’s quite hardcore.”
Saxon will headline this year’s Ramblin’ Man Fair which will take place at Mote Park in Maidstone, Kent, UK, on July 28-30.