Biff Byford was asked what keeps him interested in music almost fifty years into the job. His answer came from a man who has spent the past two years dealing with rather more than songwriting.
The Saxon frontman spoke with Poland’s Mystic Festival ahead of the January release of Gods Of Thunder, the band’s 25th studio album.
“I think it’s the same as being in Iron Maiden or Judas Priest or Saxon, any of those bands that have been around since the ’80s and ’70s. We feel privileged and lucky to still be here writing music. We wrote some massive songs that went around the world and changed people’s thoughts about music a little bit. We started a new sound, and I think that still resonates today, especially with younger fans as well. People go on social media now. It’s very easy to connect with the band, very easy to connect to me or the guitarists. So I think social media, for us, has helped to bring our music back to a lot of people again,” he said (as transcribed by Blabbermouth).
Asked what sustains the enthusiasm, he framed it as endurance.
“Well, we love what we do, for starters. We love what we do, and we love writing songs. Our focus is on writing great music still, stay relevant to our fans and new fans. So I think we’ve grown through the bad times — good times, bad times, good times, bad times. It’s like a rollercoaster of rock and roll. So, you just have to ride the storms, really. I mean, our motto is never surrender, which is like the song.”
Byford had surgery for bowel cancer in early 2025, which forced Saxon to cancel ten summer shows and festival appearances. He completed a short course of chemotherapy and announced in October that treatment was finished. In January he reported that a CT scan six months on had come back clear.
That followed a procedure in August 2024 to treat atrial flutter, and a heart attack in September 2019 that required emergency triple bypass surgery.
Byford was also asked whether heavy metal is in better shape than when Saxon started.
“In 1980, it was vinyls and magazines. It was vinyls, magazines and audience, word of mouth, radio stations. And now it’s just different, but it’s the same people. The same people that love rock music, heavy metal music, heavy rock, hard rock, hardcore, death metal, da-da-da.”
He continued: “I look out at the audience and I don’t really see a difference between 1980 and now, really. I mean, it’s maybe a little bit darker, and people are more knowledgeable now, I think, about what they like. But I think it’s just a way of life for people, and it’s a family, isn’t it? And we’re just part of that family. We’re one of the many bands that are still around. And that’s how it is.”
Gods Of Thunder is out January 22, 2027 through Silver Lining Music. Byford disclosed the date to France’s “Last Ride” podcast, having kept it back until then.
Andy Sneap, longtime Saxon producer and Judas Priest‘s touring guitarist, finished mixing in January 2026. He has worked on every Saxon studio album since Sacrifice in 2013.
Pre-orders open in early September, with the first single and video arriving the same month. The single also gets a seven-inch vinyl release.
Byford has described the material as heavier than its predecessor, crediting Tatler with a substantial role in shaping it alongside Doug Scarratt. Ideas from Scarratt, drummer Nigel Glockler and bassist Nibbs Carter all fed into the record.
It follows Hell, Fire And Damnation, released January 2024 on the same label and also handled by Sneap and Byford.
The “Gods Of Thunder” world tour opens with 11 UK and Ireland dates in February 2027 with the return of the band’s 30-foot mechanized Eagle.
Built in the early 1980s by Midlands firm using airport runway landing lights, the prop first appeared as the band prepared to tour Denim And Leather, and gave its name to 1982’s The Eagle Has Landed, which reached number five on the UK albums chart. It will fly at every date except Cardiff, where the venue cannot accommodate it.
“We wanted to make the ‘Gods Of Thunder‘ U.K. and Ireland tour extra special. And what better way than to fly our beloved Saxon Eagle again… Get ready for take-off!” Byford said.
Tatler, who remains a member of Diamond Head, has been in the touring and recording lineup since mid-2023, standing in for Paul Quinn after the guitarist stepped back from the road. Byford and Quinn are the last remaining original members of the band.
