Into the Labyrinth, the eighteenth studio album by British heavy metal band Saxon, was released on 9 January 2009. It was made between tours in 2008 and written by the band in England and at Biff Byford's house in France. The first single, "Live to Rock", was released on 17 October 2008. The album sold about 1,000 copies in the US in the week after its release.[5]
| Into The Labyrinth | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
.jpg) Cover art by Paul R. Gregory | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 9 January 2009 | |||
| Recorded | 2008 | |||
| Studio | Twilight Hall, Krefeld, Germany | |||
| Genre | Heavy metal | |||
| Length | 54:47 | |||
| Label | SPV/Steamhammer | |||
| Producer | Charlie Bauerfeind | |||
| Saxon chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |    [1] |
| IGN | 7.7/10[2] |
| Jukebox:Metal | [3] |
| Record Collector | [4] |
A proper physical fourteenth track is featured on the Japanese CD pressing, released on 3 February 2009. Previously, it sold as a compressed, low-bitrate download.[6]
The song "Coming Home" is originally from Saxon's Killing Ground album, in an electric version.
In November 2008, Saxon announced a "Riff King" competition, for fans who could play a solo for "Live to Rock". The winner was Claudio Kiari of Brazil.
"When I wrote 'Valley of the Kings'," recalled Byford, "I had to get it right with the pharaohs and stuff, or else some wiseass would go, 'Hey, you got the wrong Rameses!'"[7]
Track listing
editAll lyrics are written by Biff Byford; all music is composed by Biff Byford, Doug Scarratt, Paul Quinn, Nigel Glockler, Timothy Carter
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Battalions of Steel" | 6:34 |
| 2. | "Live to Rock" | 5:30 |
| 3. | "Demon Sweeney Todd" | 3:51 |
| 4. | "The Letter" | 0:42 |
| 5. | "Valley of the Kings" | 5:03 |
| 6. | "Slow Lane Blues" | 4:08 |
| 7. | "Crime of Passion" | 4:04 |
| 8. | "Premonition in D Minor" | 0:40 |
| 9. | "Voice" | 4:35 |
| 10. | "Protect Yourselves" | 3:56 |
| 11. | "Hellcat" | 3:54 |
| 12. | "Come Rock of Ages (The Circle Is Complete)" | 3:52 |
| 13. | "Coming Home" (Bottleneck Version) | 3:12 |
| 14. | "Live to Rock" (Single Version, Japan-only bonus track) | 4:46 |
Personnel
edit- Biff Byford – lead vocals
- Paul Quinn – guitars
- Doug Scarratt – guitars
- Nibbs Carter – bass guitar
- Nigel Glockler – drums
- Matthias Ulmer – keyboards
Charts
edit| Chart (2009) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[8] | 83 |
| French Albums (SNEP)[9] | 87 |
| German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[10] | 23 |
| Japanese Albums (Oricon)[11] | 232 |
| Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[12] | 33 |
| Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[13] | 61 |
| UK Rock & Metal Albums (OCC)[14] | 6 |
| US Independent Albums (Billboard)[15] | 72 |
References
edit- ^ Henderson, Alex. "Saxon into the Labyrinth". AllMusic. Retrieved 30 June 2011.
- ^ Kaz, Jim. "Saxon – Into The Labyrinth". IGN. News Corporation. Archived from the original on 21 March 2012. Retrieved 30 June 2011.
- ^ Lye, Andy (2006). "Saxon – Into the Labyrinth". Jukebox:Metal.com. Archived from the original on 13 July 2011. Retrieved 30 June 2011.
- ^ Geesin, Joe (January 2009). "Saxon – Into the Labyrinth". Record Collector (358). Retrieved 3 February 2015.
- ^ "SAXON: New Album Artwork, Track Listing, Release Date Revealed – Mar. 14, 2011". Blabbermouth.net. Archived from the original on 4 January 2013. Retrieved 16 March 2011.
- ^ "Saxon homepage". Archived from the original on 4 February 2009. Retrieved 12 February 2009.
- ^ Elliott, Paul (August 2016). "The gospel according to Biff Byford". Classic Rock #226. p. 54.
- ^ "Dutchcharts.nl – Saxon – Into the Labyrinth" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 31 July 2021.
- ^ "Lescharts.com – Saxon – Into the Labyrinth". Hung Medien. Retrieved 31 July 2021.
- ^ "Offiziellecharts.de – Saxon – Into the Labyrinth" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 31 July 2021.
- ^ "Oricon Top 50 Albums: 2009-02-16" (in Japanese). Oricon. Retrieved 31 July 2021.
- ^ "Swedishcharts.com – Saxon – Into the Labyrinth". Hung Medien. Retrieved access-date=31 July 2021.
- ^ "Swisscharts.com – Saxon – Into the Labyrinth". Hung Medien. Retrieved access-date=31 July 2021.
- ^ "Official Rock & Metal Albums Chart Top 40". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 31 July 2021.
- ^ "Saxon Chart History (Independent Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved 31 July 2021.