Review by Rob Broom for MPM
Saxon deliver a barnstorming live heavy metal greatest hits feast from their 2024 appearance at Hellfest.
Saxon – in my experience (I first saw them in 1979 supporting Motorhead!) – have always been a fantastic live band and that has been well documented with some tremendous live albums over the years.
Their latest – ‘Eagles Over Hellfest’ – catches the band with a new line up, guitarist Paul Quinn has stepped down and been replaced by Brian Tatler of Diamond Head. Brians guitar riffing impact was immediate on studio album ‘Hell, Fire and Damnation’ and this live performance opens with the title track from that album. Without barely a pause Saxon then tear into a personal favourite of mine from the ‘Wheels of Steel’ album – the mighty ‘Motorcycle Man’. There really is no mercy from the twin guitar attack of Tatler and Doug Scarratt on this opening one, two and the pounding continues with third cut – ‘Power And The Glory’.
Whilst the band might be playing it a bit safe with the overall set list (as Hellfest is a huge festival), there is still room for another cut from the latest album – ‘Madame Guillotine’ – in the early part of the set. Bearing in mind French history, it’s an interesting choice and is a great example of how many of the bands songs are inspired by historical events. It also happens to contain some very catchy chorus lyrics!
From there on in, ‘Eagles Over Hellfest’ is effectively a live ‘Greatest Hits’ that brilliantly showcases just how good the band are performing at the moment.
After the full on assault of ‘Heavy Metal Thunder’ we get ‘Dallas 1pm’ complete with a soaring guitar solo (although in fairness, the entire performance is littered with fantastic soloing!).
There is a brief moment of respite with the slower paced ‘The Eagle Has Landed’ (where Nigel Glockler on drums and Nibs Carter on bass hold down a pulsating beat – they really are a tremendous rhythm section) before the band roar triumphantly into the second half of the performance with seven of their very best.
Starting with a cracking ‘Strong Arm Of The Law’, unsurprisingly, Saxon play ‘And The Bands Played On’ – dedicated to Hellfest this time out – but it is still a magnificent, magical reminder of that first 1980 Donnington show that arguably set the blueprint for many of the festivals we get today. There is no respite as we then get some of Saxons finest crowd pleasers -‘Denim And Leather’, ‘Wheels Of Steel’ and ‘747 (Strangers In The Night)’ – with vocalist Biff Byford ensuring the crowd fully get into proceedings by delivering that quality frontman role he is renown for. There are no signs of slowing down or aging from Biff, he is matching the pumping musical bombast all the way!
The penultimate cut on the album is ‘Crusader’, with the band conjuring up a spellbinding musical display before they finish with the stomping runaway anthem that is ‘Princess Of The Night’ – an absolutely brilliant and breathtaking climatic ending!
This is a great album, it captures the band perfectly at this moment in time in their career and Saxon are not holding back, they are most certainly not going through the motions on stage – this is fully committed classic metal! It would have been nice to hear some more of newer songs, but perhaps that leaves the door open for another live album in the future?
Saxon are working flat out at the moment during 2025, touring across Europe (including Wacken) over the summer, with UK dates in November and I will see you there somewhere near the front.
In the meantime, get prepared by buying this album, play it very loud and let the air guitaring and headbanging commence!
SAXON
BIFF BYFORD – Vocals
NIGEL GLOCKLER – Drums
DOUG SCARRATT – Guitar
BRIAN TATLER – Guitar
NIBBS CARTER – Bass
Recorded at Hellfest 2024
Produced by Biff Byford
Follow Saxon on:
www.facebook.com/SaxonOfficial/ [2]
www.instagram.com/saxon.official [3]
www.twitter.com/SaxonOfficial [4]
www.youtube.com/PlanetSaxon [5]
www.saxon747.com [6]
Pre-order and video link in the comments below 
