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“A science fiction thriller set underground where strange genetic experiments are taking place. A mercenary is hired to lead a scientist to the secret lab...” So goes the blurb for what sounds like an extraordinarily dull, straight-to-DVD flick called Scintilla.

However, it has somehow inspired Saxon’s Biff Byford and Hell’s Andy Sneap to conjure up a concept album that could have been made by mid-period Queensrÿche, had Queensrÿche been raised in Belper.

How closely the song structure adheres to the film itself remains to be seen (the ‘inspired by’ tag suggests it’s just the starting point), but with Sneap’s eloquent guitar work, Biff’s unmistakable howl and material that is more nuanced than either man might be used to, the results are a welcome revelation. It’s given the film a lot to live up to.

Philip Wilding is a novelist, journalist, scriptwriter, biographer and radio producer. As a young journalist he criss-crossed most of the United States with bands like Motley Crue, Kiss and Poison (think the Almost Famous movie but with more hairspray). More latterly, he’s sat down to chat with bands like the slightly more erudite Manic Street Preachers, Afghan Whigs, Rush and Marillion.