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When asked about a possible release date, Byford said: "We're looking at maybe at a summer release. It just depends on whether it's ready or not.

We're looking at finishing the album by the end of April. We're keeping our fingers crossed. On 1 August , the band announced 16 October as the release date of Battering Ram and also premiered the official video of the title track.

On 14 September , Biff Byford announced on Facebook that Saxon were working on a new album with producer Andy Sneap , for an early release.

On 15 June , Byford revealed that the title of their new studio album was Thunderbolt. In an October interview with Sonic Perspectives, Byford confirmed that Saxon will "definitely" record a new album sometime in He was quoted as saying, "We don't have to have too much commitment to timings.

We're an established band — we can pretty much do what we want. If we feel like writing, then we write.

If we don't feel like writing, then we don't write. Simple as that. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. This article is about the band.

For the Germanic peoples, see Saxons. British heavy metal band. This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources.

Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Saxon performing at Wacken Open Air , Heavy metal. Current members Biff Byford — vocals —present ; bass Paul Quinn — guitars —present Nibbs Carter — bass —present Doug Scarratt — guitars —present Nigel Glockler — drums —, —, —present Former members Graham Oliver — guitars — Steve Dawson — bass — Pete Gill — drums — Paul Johnson — bass — Nigel Durham — drums — Fritz Randow — drums — Jörg Michael — drums — Main article: Saxon discography.

Retrieved 25 April Retrieved 24 April Retrieved 5 October Retrieved 22 March Metal Underground. Retrieved 19 February Archived from the original on 2 November Retrieved 21 February Retrieved 21 May Archived from the original on 20 November Archived from the original on 14 November Retrieved 30 October From Transylvania, some of these Saxons migrated to neighbouring Moldavia , as the name of the town Sas-cut shows.

Sascut lies in the part of Moldavia that forms part of present-day Romania. The Finns and Estonians have changed their usage of the root Saxon over the centuries to apply now to the whole country of Germany Saksa and Saksamaa respectively and the Germans saksalaiset and sakslased , respectively.

As a result of the 13th-century Northern Crusades , Estonia 's upper class comprised mostly persons of German origin until well into the 20th century.

The Dutch female given name , Saskia , originally meant 'a Saxon woman' metathesis of Saxia. Following the downfall of Henry the Lion —, Duke of Saxony — , and the subsequent splitting of the Saxon tribal duchy into several territories, the name of the Saxon duchy was transferred to the lands of the Ascanian family.

This led to the differentiation between Lower Saxony lands settled by the Saxon tribe and Upper Saxony the lands belonging to the House of Wettin.

Gradually, the latter region became known as "Saxony", ultimately usurping the name's original geographical meaning. The area formerly known as Upper Saxony now lies in Central Germany - in the eastern part of the present-day Federal Republic of Germany : note the names of the federal states of Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt.

Ptolemy 's Geographia , written in the 2nd century, is sometimes considered to contain the first mentioning of the Saxons.

Some copies of this text mention a tribe called Saxones in the area to the north of the lower Elbe. This may be a misspelling of the tribe that Tacitus in his Germania called Aviones.

According to this theory, "Saxones" was the result of later scribes trying to correct a name that meant nothing to them.

He notes that the loss of first letters occurs in numerous places in various copies of Ptolemy's work, and also that the manuscripts without "Saxones" are generally inferior overall.

Schütte also remarks that there was a medieval tradition of calling this area "Old Saxony" covering Westphalia, Angria and Eastphalia.

The first undisputed mention of the Saxon name in its modern form is from AD , when Julian , later the Roman Emperor , mentioned them in a speech as allies of Magnentius , a rival emperor in Gaul.

Zosimus also mentions a specific tribe of Saxons, called the Kouadoi , which have been interpreted as a misunderstanding for the Chauci , or Chamavi.

They entered the Rhineland and displaced the recently settled Salian Franks from Batavi , whereupon some of the Salians began to move into the Belgian territory of Toxandria , supported by Julian.

Both in this case and in others the Saxons were associated with using boats for their raids. In order to defend against Saxon raiders, the Romans created a military district called the Litus Saxonicum "Saxon Coast" on both sides of the English Channel.

In — AD, Saxons are mentioned for the first time as inhabitants of Britain, when an unknown Gaulish historian wrote: "The British provinces Saxons as inhabitants of present-day Northern Germany are first mentioned in , when the Frankish king Theudebald died, and the Saxons used the opportunity for an uprising.

The uprising was suppressed by Chlothar I , Theudebald's successor. Some of their Frankish successors fought against the Saxons, others were allied with them.

The Thuringians frequently appeared as allies of the Saxons. In the Netherlands , Saxons occupied the territory south of the Frisians and north of the Franks.

In the west it reached as far as the Gooi region, in the south as far as the Lower Rhine. After the conquest of Charlemagne, this area formed the main part of the Bishopric of Utrecht.

The Saxon duchy of Hamaland played an important role in the formation of the duchy of Guelders. The local language, although strongly influenced by standard Dutch , is still officially recognised as Dutch Low Saxon.

In , some Saxons accompanied the Lombards into Italy under the leadership of Alboin and settled there.

Divided, they were easily defeated by the Gallo-Roman general Mummolus. When the Saxons regrouped, a peace treaty was negotiated whereby the Italian Saxons were allowed to settle with their families in Austrasia.

One group proceeded by way of Nice and another via Embrun , joining up at Avignon. They were forced to pay compensation for what they had robbed before they could enter Austrasia.

These people are known only by documents, and their settlement cannot be compared to the archeological artifacts and remains that attest to Saxon settlements in northern and western Gaul.

Some Saxons already lived along the Saxon shore of Gaul as Roman foederati. The location of Grannona is uncertain and was identified by the historians and toponymists at different places: mainly with the town known today as Granville in Normandy or nearby.

The Notitia Dignitatum does not explain where these "Roman" soldiers came from. The Saxons of Bayeux comprised a standing army and were often called upon to serve alongside the local levy of their region in Merovingian military campaigns.

In , the Saxons wore their hair in the Breton fashion at the orders of Fredegund and fought with them as allies against Guntram. One of their own, Aeghyna , was created a dux over the region of Vasconia.

In and under king Charles the Bald , other official documents mention a pagus called Otlinga Saxonia in the Bessin region, but the meaning of Otlinga is unclear.

It is the only place name in Normandy that can be interpreted as a -tun one English -ton ; cf. Other cases were considered, but there is no determining example.

In addition, archaeological finds add evidence to the documents and the results of toponymic research.

The oldest and most spectacular Saxon site found in France to date is Vron , in Picardy. Physically different from the usual local inhabitants found before this period, they instead resembled the Germanic populations of the north.

Starting around AD the burials are located in the region known in Roman times as the Saxon Shores. Starting from around AD the burial ground displaced eastward.

The burials were now arranged in rows and displayed a strong Anglo-Saxon influence until around AD, when this influence subsided.

Archaeological material, neighbouring toponymy, and historical accounts support the conclusion of settlement of Saxon foederati with their families on the shores of the English Channel.

His main achievement was to complete the new system of Saxon Shore forts around the southeastern coasts. At first he sought recognition as coemperor, but this was refused.

United Kingdom: The invaders and their early settlements. Archaeology, however, suggests a more complex picture showing many tribal elements, Frankish leadership in the first waves, and Frisian contacts.

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