LIVE REVIEW: Saor @ The Classic Grand, Glasgow
Scotland is globally renowned for its dramatic wind-lashed areas of natural beauty, and SAOR is the metal equivalent of this. This one-man band led by Andy Marshall creates expansive craggy vistas of atmospheric blackened folk metal. Since their debut album in 2013, he has single-handedly put Scotland on the metal atlas, paving the path for his fellow countrymen to entrench the nation even on the subterranean map. This year, sees SAOR kick off on a high note by unveiling their sixth album, Amidst The Ruins. Tonight, his home city of Glasgow hosts the album’s release party at the roomy The Classic Grand.
Support comes from DOMHAIN, a post-rock/blackgaze metal band from across the water in Belfast. This hybridisation between black metal, shoegaze and postrock must take the mantle of the fastest-growing black metal subgenre these days. This Northern Irish collective only has an EP and a single, both from 2023, to their name. These outputs are quite late in the blackgaze wave, so they really need to hone their enthusiasm and creativity to differentiate themselves in the sub-genre.
However, the attendees find the familiar motifs of the genre: fuzzy distortion, isolated melancholic guitar leads, mid-range monotonous clean vocals and black metal rasps, atmospheric black metal tremolo picking and archetypal post-rock passages. Some moments incorporate a slight folk element, but most of the music sounds similar. Awful sound further hinders the band; the drums overpower everything else, and guitars are only audible to owls. However, this issue improves as the set continues, but paired with a reserved stage presence, DOMHAIN does little to enhance their show. Frontman Andy Ennis seems to be a lovely chap, based on his stage banter though, so there’s that.
Rating: 5/10
When SAOR walk on stage, there are rapturous cheers heard throughout the hometown crowd. However, the band abruptly stops playing just one minute into the opening title track, Amidst The Ruins. There’s visible confusion etched on Andy Marshall’s and the rest of his lineup’s faces, and no one seems to know what’s going on. Marshall jokes that that’s the end of the set and bids the audience goodbye as he laughs. The busy venue laughs too, but this ends up being no laughing matter. Everyone wordlessly leaves the stage and a lot of time passes without anyone informing the audience of what’s going on.
Literally forty minutes later, the headliners return to the stage again and start with the same twelve-minute opener. What’s noticeable about the new material is the folk elements seem to be better considered and integrated into the metal. It feels more sophisticated and less kitsch or gimmicky. Ella Zlotos’ tin whistle and uilleann pipes provide countless earworm melodies, harmonies and a variety of unusually vibrant textures. The venue eats up every note and it’s clear no one regrets waiting for that ungodly amount of time.
Reflective acoustic number The Sylvan Embrace draws heavily on neofolk influences, like SOL INVICTUS and OF THE WAND AND THE MOON. While it’s a beautiful track that differs from SAOR’s trademark style, it’s incredibly repetitive and Marshall’s extended use of whispers gets somewhat lost in the venue. The inclusion of a second female singer joining the band with sumptuous results balances this out. Glen Of Sorrow also begins calmly but flourishes into a majestic paean to the Highlands, with the second singer once again employed effectively. The brief inclusion of a higher-range guitar rhythm feels more suited to melodic death metal but adds a fresh angle to the song. Rebirth profers more variety with a bouncy tin whistle, lamenting pipes, complex guitar work, boisterous blastbeats and a traditionally hopeful Celtic folk conclusion. Sometimes the engineers don’t quite mix the tin whistle and the pipes adeptly among the metal instrumentation, but it doesn’t punish the overall sound.
They leave the stage after Rebirth and there’s some doubt as to whether they’ll return for an encore, given the severe delays. Thankfully though, The venue is gracious enough to delay their curfew and club night opening to allow SAOR to play their complete seventy-minute set. The loyalists are rewarded with a rendition of the only older anthem tonight, Aura. This version features a female vocal accompaniment singing along to the folky guitar melody, and the tin whistle replaces the folk stringed instruments.
This closer touches on the melodic, rhythmic, atmospheric and proud. It’s an outstanding way to end the set and see the fans off into a chilly Saturday night. This hometown kick-off show is a fortunate omen for the rest of the UK tour and an enticing advertisement for Amidst The Ruins.
Rating: 9/10
Check out our photo gallery of the night’s action in Glasgow from Duncan McCall here:
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