Scottish Celtic metal band, Saor, released their album, “Amidst
the Ruins,” on February 7, 2025. The album was recorded at various studios,
including Fortriu Studios in Scotland, Nikolaus Recordings Studio in Germany, NewLife
Studios in Spain, and Farkosten Studios, in Spain. Although the album is only
five songs long, the songs are longer so it makes up for length in the time in
each song.
Andy Marshall can be heard on vocals, guitars, and bass. Jira
performed the female vocals, tin whistles, low whistles, and uilleann pipes. Jose
Garrido and Daniel Sabugal played the drums on the album and Mattias Eklund was
featured on the violin, viola, and cello. Chris Fielding did the mixing and guitar re-amping
for the album at Penylan Studio, Wales. Tony Lindgren did the album’s mastering
at Fascination Street Studios in Sweden.
Saor does a great job of capturing the stories and mythology
of the Celtic people while paving a new pathway for telling these stories. This
is done by keeping many of the instrumentals true to traditional Celtic sounds
and melodies while having metal vocals singing on top. This allows the band to
be unique and stand out from other Celtic metal musicians.
This album, and the band’s music as a whole, fuses together
traditional Celtic (specifically Scottish) songs with the sound of heavy metal.
The band fuses these sounds together so seamlessly that it feels like this has
been part of the music tradition forever. It feels natural, with the vocals
being so passionate and the instruments aiding in the feelings of the song.
With this type of music, it can be difficult to strike a
balance between the more hardcore vocals, the powerful rock instruments, and
the more traditional instruments. However, this proves to not be an issue for
Saor. They masterfully mixed the album in a way where even the traditional
Celtic instruments have a say in the songs and stories featured on the album.
Overall, this is not an album I will soon forget. This is my
first glimpse into the world of Celtic metal, and I hope it is not my last. The
fusion of metal vocals and guitars with traditional Celtic melodies and instruments
is a difficult balance, but is one that Saor has conquered beautifully. The
album is a journey through only five songs, but this album proves the old adage
that quality is more important than quantity.
Track list:
1. Amidst the Ruins
2. Echoes of the
Ancient Land
3. Glen of Sorrow
4. The Sylvan Embrace
5. Rebirth
Rating: 9/10 Rebirths
-Album Review: "Open Wide" by Inhaler: https://kiltedowl.blogspot.com/2025/02/album-review-open-wide-by-inhaler.html
-Album Review: "Unplugged, Vol. 2" by GLIN: https://kiltedowl.blogspot.com/2025/02/album-review-unplugged-vol-2-glin.html.html