Saxon - Carpe Diem

Carpe diem of course means "seize the day" and that's something that British metal band Saxon knows quite a bit about; now on their 23rd studio album, Saxon have been seizing the day for decades. And pummeling it senseless! The album starts with the title cut "Carpe Diem (Seize the Day)" and you can think of the quiet moments at the song's beginning as the dawn, but suddenly the urge to seize the day kicks in with a shriek from singer Biff Byford and a full-on onslaught from the band (guitarists Paul Quinn and Doug Scarratt and the rhythm team of bass man Nibbs Carter and drummer Nigel Glockler.) The song salutes the visionaries in all walks of life that never gave (or give) up on their goals. Certainly Saxon can include themselves in that forever-memorable group. "Age of Steam" kicks the old ways to the curb and warns with a hard and heavy beat that the "age of steel" is on the way while "The Pilgrimage" tones things down to the pace of a loping groove, apt for the song's subject matter. Buzz saw guitar opens "Dambusters" and keep the pace for the speedy cut as Byford wails above the rhythm and solos from the second guitar; the guitars go crazy on "All for One," a Three Musketeers-referencing rocker where Byford's voice and the guitars all slice like rapiers. The 10-cut Carpe Diem ends with "Black is the Night," a warning that not all is well and that maybe everybody should, well, seize the day.

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