British heavy metal institution SAXON have confirmed the title and release date of their next studio album, "Gods Of Thunder," due out January 22, 2027, marking the band's 25th full-length and the follow-up to 2024's "Hell, Fire And Damnation."
Guitarist Brian Tatler confirmed the album's title in conversation with Neil Jones of TotalRock at the Maid Of Stone festival in Mote Park, Maidstone, Kent, ahead of an official band announcement. The record was produced by longtime SAXON collaborator Andy Sneap, who also serves as JUDAS PRIEST's touring guitarist and has helmed several of the band's recent studio efforts. A first single and accompanying music video are set to arrive in September 2026, with pre-orders opening early that same month; the lead single will also be issued on seven-inch vinyl.
"Gods Of Thunder" will be supported by a dedicated U.K. and Ireland tour in 2027, and frontman Biff Byford has made clear the run will lean heavily on SAXON's reputation for theatrical stagecraft. "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," Byford said. "Get ready for take-off!" The tour will bring back the band's famed 30-foot mechanized Eagle, along with the "Castles & Eagles" stage production, for every date except Cardiff, where venue restrictions rule out the prop.
The album arrives as SAXON continues to operate as one of the New Wave Of British Heavy Metal's most active surviving acts, with Byford and Tatler now joined by guitarist Doug Scarratt, bassist Nibbs Carter and drummer Nigel Glockler. The band has kept up a steady release pace in recent years even as Byford has managed serious health challenges, having completed a course of chemotherapy for bowel cancer.
With a title as bombastic as SAXON's own catalog and a stage show built around one of metal's most recognizable props, "Gods Of Thunder" positions the band's 2027 campaign as both a creative statement and a continuation of the arena-scale spectacle that has defined SAXON's live shows for decades. Further international tour dates beyond the U.K. and Ireland leg are expected to be announced in the coming months.