Let’s face it, Saor knows why we’re here: because they’re ‘that Scottish black metal band that play the bagpipes.’ So, let’s pour a glass of fine scotch, think of the Highlands and let the Northern winds tickle our balls through our tartan kilts for their latest album Amidst the Ruins. For some context, the black metal community seems almost overwhelmed with cheap early 90s fodder, where bands believe that to achieve their ‘sound,’ they must record their castrated shrieks through a McDonald’s Happy Meal Toy from 2002. Whereas Saor’s blackened sound is as defiant as it is crisp and clear; like the crystalline waters of Loch Lomond, it’s an entirely refreshing and welcome take. Gone are the days when black metal needed to punish you with constant and unrelenting blast beats for daring to enjoy its music, made only for the self-imagined “strong”. The problem that has historically plagued the genre is that it deifies sounding terrible.
Amidst the Ruin’s title track reassures us that it’s okay to enjoy black metal that has some serious production quality. It’s still unquestionably black metal, but Saor gives us time for quiet reflection with gentle bagpipes and flutes as an oasis of peace amongst its harsh blackened choruses, amplifying both. Its 12-minute runtime flows by as smooth as a gentle river and does well to set the scene for the rest of the album. And so, we are next confronted by ‘Echoes of Ancient Land’. Here, Saor is telling us: don’t get too comfortable. We are first met by aggressive vocals which surprisingly, are somewhat intelligible, they must not have gotten the genre-wide memo. It appears Saor are getting very comfortable with the folk aspects of their sound. The bagpipes progress into Iron Maiden-style guitar galloping very fluidly. A departure, but one where the ride is quite enjoyable – though it’s also not as blackened as black metal usually is.
Photo Credit: S. Bollmann
As the previous song ends with an almost progressive style buildup and release, ‘Glen of Sorrow’ introduces a sound as dark as its name promises. After a slow, but contemplative start, Saor reminds us why they’re blackened with some well-timed and conservatively used blast beats, juxtaposed by soft female vocals crooning some gorgeous Gaelic lyrics that could have been taken from the Witcher 3’s soundtrack. The song almost runs as a duet with Andy Marshall’s gruff, but mindful vocals. This might be the album’s best track yet. On ‘The Sylvian Embrace’, Marshall creepily whispers poetry soothingly into our ears over gentle acoustics, with an underlying insidious venom about his Celtic aura. Fans of Agalloch will likely adore this song. Finally, we come to ‘Rebirth’. Clocking in at over 14 minutes, it promises to be a monster. Whilst the previous track felt like listening to nostalgia for a past that has never happened, in ‘Rebirth’, Saor issue a reminder about who they are, and reward us for trusting them to take us on this journey. It’s got everything Saor fans will love in its wholly blackened, yet stirringly motivational, sound, refined by violins, bagpipes and flutes. This song is real blackened folk musicianship.
The black metal purists probably won’t like this one, but they’ve likely never enjoyed Saor. There’s also no reason to consider their thoughts on a band that dares not live in the 90s anyway. But fans of post-black, blackened-folk or folk-metal should love this release. Finishing this album will give you the same feelings as when you’ve just turned the final page of a damn good book. This is high-quality blackened folk, unapologetic and at its very best.