Review: Saor – Roots
Review: Saor – Roots
Sep 24
Saor – Roots
Review Rating: 6/10
As a music reviewer, you know that you need to get through your submissions pile a little quicker when the band you’re reviewing has changed their name since sending you their promo. Which is apparently the case with Scotland’s Àrsaidh, now known as Saor, who released their debut album Roots earlier this year. Name change aside, the one-man atmospheric folk/black metal group (now apparently a two person venture) have a fairly respectable if not somewhat homogenized offering in their first release.
Saor plays brand of celtic-ish black metal that aims to channel the natural spirit of their Highland home country, and in that pursuit they succeed fairly well. The music is richly textured with native instrumentation that sweeps through sombre and often majestic progressions that call to mind the rolling green hills of Scotland, all the while propped up by the more aggressive and forceful backbone of traditional folk-infused black metal. Appropriately, the thundering drums, grating guitars, and shouted growls never overpower or step in front of the wandering and mostly forlorn melodies, which keeps the music atmospheric and listless while still maintaining a definite bite. The songs, all four of them, take their time to meander along their way, slowly rising and falling along the journey as they evolve through loosely structured though very natural progressions.
While Roots certainly boasts a lengthy trek through an aurally scenic soundscape at slightly under an hour of playtime, it cannot be said to have a great breadth of variety; it has its path and it sticks to it. There is a slight ‘breather’ track in the middle of the album with “Saorsa”, an ambient instrumental which helps break any potential monotony in the effort, but there is still a feeling of sameness across the album. However, this is not a deal breaker by any means, as this is not a record that relies on the individual songs, but rather the overall journey of the sound as a whole, and in that Roots accomplishes what the band sought out to do.
All in all, Saor’s first outing is noteworthy for its ability to capture the distinct emotional impression of its subject. One would hardly have to be told the inspiration behind the record in order for them to recognize it as a sombre and often sorrowful ode to the Scottish Highlands and the natural spectacle they hold. What it lacks in diversity it makes up for in impact and articulation, making it worth a listen.
6/10
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