A Chat with the SARACEN Guys (Audio Interview)

I  recently had the great opportunity to catch a show by NWOBHM heroes Saracen at the Brofest Festival in Newcastle, UK. Read the review of the gig here! Saracen rarely play live and the albums are far in between. The band did a highly successful gig at the Keep It True Festival in Germany a couple of years back. They were scheduled to play last year’s Brofest but had to cancel due to illness within the band. Therefore it was sort of a magical night to catch them live in their native country in front of an enthusiastic crowd. We had decided to catch up for an interview after the gig and using Facebook messenger we found each other at the bar during the following act’s stage time. The band was very forthcoming and easy to communicate with.  I had the opportunity to talk to the whole band at once just outside the festival area. They were really nice guys and answered my questions patiently. I had geared up with questions spanning their entire career. Many questions were answered by lead vocalist Steve Bettney who has been there from the start while the others joined in on the conversation as we drew closer to present times. Keyboard player Paul Bradder took on a leading role in the interview as well and he was instrumental in setting up the interview in the first place.

In this interview, we deal with issues like their original and strange name Lammergier, the recording of the legendary Heroes, Saints and Fools album, why the second album is so hard to get hold of, the break-up of the band and the reunion among lots of other things. If you don’t know this band before, be sure to check out the latest album called Redemption. It offers a perfect blend of heaviness, melody, guitar chops and a small portion of progressiveness thrown in for good measure.

Mikael Svensson

BUY Redemption here!

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