Gods of Thunder

Saxon's twenty-fifth studio album, Gods of Thunder, is due from Silver Lining Music on 22 January 2027, three years after Hell, Fire and Damnation. Biff Byford produced it himself, and Andy Sneap, the band's producer for many years and a touring guitarist with Judas Priest, mixed it. The title track came first, with a video on 2 September 2026; the label calls it a trip into Celtic myth, but the album ranges wider, over history, myth, fantasy, horror and pagan ritual, with Byford's love of history at its heart. The execution of Anne Boleyn is the subject of "The Bloody Tower (The Ballad of Anne Boleyn)", "Medusa" turns to myth, "Remember the Alamo" is played at the pace of the early-eighties new wave of British heavy metal, and the closing "MI5" deals with the Berlin Wall and Cold War spying. Doug Scarratt shares the guitars with Brian Tatler of Diamond Head, on what BURRN! counts as Tatler's second Saxon studio album, and the label points to the pair on "Temple of Rock"; Nigel Glockler (drums) and Tim "Nibbs" Carter (bass) complete the band. As of September 2026 no Japanese edition had been announced, and Japanese shops were taking orders only for the import digipak CD (EAN 5026854620343) and LP; the label also offers further vinyl versions and bundles.