Saor - Guardians
Pagan Metal / Black Metal / Atmospheric Black Metal
Review Summary: Take a trip to the Highlands, Saor will be your guide.
Saor
appeared on my music radar two years ago with the release of his second album
Aura. Blending Celtic folk music and Black Metal, Andy Marshall created a
unique and recognizable sound in the Metal spectrum. This one man project has
always echoed the beautiful soundscapes of Scotland and its culture in his
music, through its atmospheric melodies. In that particular goal, Guardians
does a perfect job.
“Oh, never to perish, their names let us
cherish, / The martyrs of Scotland that now are away.”
The record
is divided into five songs all lasting ten to eleven minutes. In comparison to
his previous releases, this album is less aggressive and more melodic. The
length of the songs allows Andy to change the pace of the songs in order to
build an atmosphere of strong folkloric melodies and saturated guitars. Much
like Aura, Andy composed all of the songs and used session musicians to
record his songs. Using strings, Fiddle, Bodhran, drums and Highland bagpipes
to build his melodies, Andrew almost takes you on a journey to the Highlands
with his evocative music, and connects with the listener through his emotional
lyrics.
“Mourn,
hapless Caledonia, mourn / Thy banish'd peace, thy laurels torn! “
While none
of the songs are fillers, there are a few that stand out from this fifty minute
experience. The opener Guardians, with its acoustic guitar introduction that
leads to Bagpipes and then towards the saturated riffage of Folkloric Black
Metal, is one of the finest moment of this record. Another song that stands out
is Hearth, with amazing melodies and the use of clean vocals to sing one of the
best verse on this record, a verse that easily describes the goal of this
record: “This is my home / My heart / My soul / My hearth”. The choice of
lyrics from his favorite poems about Scotland brings another dimension to his
work, making it more than just a musical experience but a cultural one too. The
strings are beautifully played here and firmly stand out as one of the best
traits about the album.
“Noble dead that
sleep below, / We your valour ne'er forget; / Soft the heroes' rest who know / Hearts
like theirs are beating yet.”
In a way,
this album almost feels like climbing a mountain. The momentum slowly builds
with each passing song, finally reaching its peak with the intense climax of
Hearth. This song creates the heaviest and most cathartic atmosphere of the
record, which then gradually descends back into where the journey began. Andrew
crafted once again a masterpiece of Scottish Folkloric Black Metal that ends
the same way it started, with bagpipes and guitar. While fans of his more
aggressive previous releases might find it a little soft, this record
demonstrates that Andrew can still change the formula and stay relevant to the
genre. The folkloric instruments bring a whole new depth to his soundscape that
wasn’t as important as on this record and this is emphasized by the great
composition of the songs.
“Sad shall it be, though sun be shed / Golden
bright on field and flood; / E'en the heather's crimson red / Holds the memory
of blood.”
Needless to
say, Andy is a busy artist. After two Saor albums, he created a 90’s Black
Metal tribute side project (Fuath) and released an album in early 2016, I. He
toured with Saor for two years but recently announced his last show and that the
band will continue as a studio project only. Guardians will be released on the 11th of November under Northern Silence.
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