Looks like this will be Nordic week. The RMR crew just covered some Scandinavian mystique. And now there’s a different North on the menu a tad more to the West. We’re talking about the good ol’ Scottish warriors that used to howl down South to torment the Aenglish beyond that big wall. A modern and metal-laden version of them, more or less.
You guessed it. Saor‘s the name and their newest piece Amidst The Ruins is currently on the chopping block over at the RMR Review Desk. The band behind Andy Marshall with an affinity for standing stones and mystical runes on their cover art. Alright, let’s visit them menhirs and invoke – something.
The last round of Saor‘s brand of Caledonian Metal already left quite an imprint on RMR’s common psyche. Reasonably rough but still bearable, it patiently wormed its way into our earphones and mutual brains. Not the easiest fare, but still a record that found reasonably high praise. Now, Amidst The Ruins just moved in. Full-tilt Atmospheric Black Metal slammed onto a sprawling concoction of almost 59 minutes. And only 5 tracks with none of them below 8 minutes of playtime. In other words, the band increased the airtime by a hefty 17 minutes. And that’s often not a very good sign.
And there has been a shift, methinks. Origins was rougher, more in-yer-face than this new piece. Amidst the Ruins saddles us with a more melodic Atmospheric Black Metal style intermingled with Folk Metal and some sort of Dark Folk at times. Somewhat aligned to the German and Austrian forest metal gang. But the piece also sports a metal style often found in Fantasy Metal lore, sometimes driven to extremes and often filled with synth-laden dumbfoolery. But to counter this, Marshall injected an abundance of flutes and uilleann pipes1 brought to you by Ella Zlotos (Ephemeral). And that lands Amidst the Ruins in territories that Sojourner should have wandered into much earlier. Should.
So, it’s confirmed. This time, Saor ventures very far into the atmospheric and symphonic realms of Extreme Metal. Case in point, you’ll often find delicate orchestration woven into the overall fabric of this record. And interestingly, some sort of Gothic melancholy and some faint progressive vibes find themselves in their tune at times. The tracks, lengthy as they might be, will convince with delicately structured arrangements and a stellar production. An ebb and flow of moods and flavors that won’t lose any element that ought to be there. All of that rides in on Marshall‘s outstanding snarls, growls, and – astonishingly – some clears (Echoes of the Ancient Land, for instance). I found it also interesting that he injected a true female contribution into the mix, again mastered by Zlotos. And at a pretty prominent position to boot.
Parts of the RMR crew expressed concerns about the combo of a painfully short tracklist and overly lengthy airtimes of the songs in Amidst the Ruins. Well, the songwriter-in-chief over at Saor masters that kind of complexity with ease. And this here record is a perfect example to showcase just that. It takes talent to let your music breathe over long stretches of unimpeded musical terrain. And this band has got that kind of skill in spades. To the point that they created a fully immersive album made for listening in one piece. Yet, you’ll indeed find some bloat in this sprawling concoction that would have allowed for some self-editing. But in the greater scheme of things, this is small potatoes.
In the end, Amidst the Ruins favors the melodic, symphonic, and folky aspects over the often harsh realities Atmospheric and Folk Black Metal usually face. And it’s not that proper metal somehow vanished, much to the contrary. But the way the band managed to blend both style directions into a remarkably coherent piece of red-hot alloy turned this concoction into a record this here crew can wholeheartedly recommend. Not only to die-hard metalheads looking for some reprieve from the merciless Extreme Metal onslaught but also to non-metallists wanting to enjoy some of THAT devil’s music.
And finally, Saor‘s Amidst the Ruins lets the fans wander (very) far into the cinematic realm. To the point that the piece risks ending up as a soundtrack over at the Hollywood movie factory. Let’s just hope that it won’t be for some sort of Braveheart 2.0, blue facepaint and fake Scottish accents included. That would be quite an insult, right? But until that happens, grab a cup of tea, turn down the lights, and let Saor‘s best engulf you. It will take you away to lands unknown, we promise.
Record Rating: 8/10 | Label: Season of Mist | Web: Official Band Site
Release Date: 7 February 2025
- One of the great Irish bagpipes.-↩