Album Review: Saor - Amidst the Ruins
Reviewed by Richard Oliver
Andy Marshall, the main man behind Caledonian atmospheric black metallers Saor, is set to rekindle the fires of heritage and resurrect the valor that courses through Scotland's vast landscapes with the sixth Saor album “Amidst The Ruins” released through Season Of Mist in February 2025. Since Andy started Saor back in 2012 (with the original band name of Àrsaidh), he has unleashed a wave of tremendous albums mixing atmospheric black metal and celtic folk whilst writing an unbridled love letter to the stunning landscapes of his native Scotland.
With album number six, it is business as usual but this time round everything just sounds bigger and better. “Amidst The Ruins” returns to the lengthier compositions of previous albums after the shorter songs which made up previous album “Origins”. Lengthier songs can be risky but Andy knows what he is doing and has come up with five compositions which are enthralling, epic and really take you on a journey. These may be huge songs but it is impossible not to get caught up in them and let the time fly away as the music transports you across glens and highlands.
Each song has its own identity as well, kicking off with the massive title track which opens the album in glorious style and ‘Echoes Of The Ancient Land’ which manages to sound both aggressive and ethereal in equal measure. ‘Glen Of Sorrow’ like its title suggests has a darker, more melancholy and slightly more aggressive tone to it whilst ‘The Sylvian Embrace’ strips things back being a far more acoustically led song with some excellent guest vocals from regular collaborator Ella Zlotos. The album finishes with the longest and most epic song ‘Rebirth’ mixes it all together being furious, atmospheric, epic and dramatic with some utterly gorgeous melodies throughout.
“Amidst The Ruins” doesn’t reinvent the wheel at all for Saor but refines it with some of the best material from the band to date. The musicianship from Andy is simply superb and the songwriting simply has to be applauded as although they are lengthy compositions they never outstay their welcome. The mix of atmospheric black metal, celtic folk music and ethereal sounds is a winning combination and really works wonders especially in ‘Rebirth’ which has to be one of the finest songs from Saor. A superb album that will definitely be in the running for album of 2025.
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