Saor – ‘Amidst the Ruins’ (2025)
Rating: 9.5/10
Release: 7 Februari 2025
Label: Season of Mist
Scottish band Saor is back with a new album called “Amidst the Ruins” for Season of Mist. In this new album there are four new songs, with one of them, “The Sylvan Embrace”, completely acoustic.
In this album Saor combines the past and the present, with this four songs that goes amidst the melancholy ruins and the grandeur of nature. This songs transcends times, combining the past and the present. For example “Glen of Sorrow” is about the betrayal of the Massacre of Glencoe to the forest’s whispered secret in “The Sylvan Embrace”. This is the only track under 10 minutes, it’s also the acoustic one and it sounds like an invite to people to find refuge and rejuvenation amidst the forest, with each of the notes that calls everyone to introspection, with a reminder of the power that nature holds, and its ability to cure every soul. Every songs is perfectly balanced between clean vocals and growl, acoustic and electric parts and the result is a very good album that can be considered a portal to learn about Scotland’s rich heritage, which soul is captured in every note.
Someone can argue that the songs are too long, but they are so balanced and beautifully played that you don’t feel the real length.
In conclusion, we can consider this album as a tribute to the timeless landscapes and ancestral spirits. With “Amidst the Ruins” the listeners are invited on a beautiful journey through a weathered glens and ethereal hills, where every melody reveals a different melody of strength, sorrow and reveal.
Tracklist
1. Amidst the Ruins 12:41
2. Echoes of the Ancient Land 11:41
3. Glen of Sorrow 12:05
4. The Sylvan Embrace 8:19
5. Rebirth 14:10