New Wave Of British Heavy Metal heroes Saxon announced last month that Paul Quinn, their long-time guitarist and last original member with singer Biff Byford, would be retiring from the band, in a live capacity at least. Byford had then hinted that his replacement would be someone from the same scene and era, leading some fans to speculate that ex-Judas Priest guitarist KK Downing might be joining the band...
Today, he named Brian Tatler of Diamond Head as Quinn's replacement. Diamond Head is perhaps best remembered for their classic Borrowed Time album, which contains the Heavy Metal anthem Am I Evil?
This is inspired casting, to say the least. Tatler is a great guitarist and the two bands have quite a history together. In fact, they were touring together as recently as November. It'll obviously be a change to not see Quinn at the right of the stage, but this is an exciting new chapter for the band.
As a side not, Tatler is thankfully NOT leaving his brainchild Diamond Head. Now, what will happen in case of conflicting schedules is anyone's guess, but for the moment, let's enjoy the pairing of some of the mightiest Metal masters to have come out of England.
You can check out Saxon's official announcement below: