As time moves on, clear talent makes itself known time and time again. Whether it’s a fledgling act that comes out of nowhere to really impress listener for what they bring to the table or a long-established name that continues to surprise, some bands only know how to age like fine wine. Even then, however, success is not always a certainty. It takes something exceptional to not just return in a bold form but continuously break new ground to show us what a name can still bring to the table even several years down the line. Having carved out a corner of the underground entirely for its own, Saor is one name that refuses to let us down even six albums later.

It’s an obviously grand achievement to make yourself known as a true tour de force of any style, but it’s another thing entirely to continue that trend for even just a single album. Saor has been synonymous with the old world and quality undeniable as there just aren’t that many bands out there that can match what Saor constantly and consistently brings to the table to make the band a true icon of the sound. It’s with the arrival of “Amidst the Ruins” that Saor accomplishes two things if nothing else: (1) an unyielding dominance over the sound is as strong as ever, and (2) a gorgeously raw display of power that is indicative of the power Saor has become all but known. In face of that second truth, “Amidst the Ruins” feels like the most potent ritual from Saor since “Aura” with everything falling into place beautifully to bring the natural world naught but overwhelming majesty and glory while its the sonic repertoire of Saor that is only expanded in monumentous fashion. Singularly captivating in all that they have to offer with all the finesse and grandeur that one could ask for when channeling ancient wisdom and seeking solace in the raw splendor of all that nature can be, it’s throughout this nearly hour-long experience that we bear witness to what’s sure to be a monolith of what the genre can be in 2025 with the bar already set quite high. Still more than capable of enchanting the listener right from the beginning and offering sights of what this world could have been should humanity have taken a different path, it’s throughout the whole of “Amidst the Ruins” that Saor reminds us yet again why they’re a band that we continuously come back to time and again.

Where the spirits roam free and the forest grows unabated, Saor dwells in magnificence. Constantly has this Scottish act shown us what the sound can be when it’s put in the right hands with the material only becoming more layered and all the more captivating as time has gone on to result in what has to be one of the defining folk metal-related acts of a generation. Saor has never needed anybody to point out its splendor, yet it’s with all that’s to be found in “Amidst the Ruins” that one’s knees cannot help but buckle and then fail before such awesome power, talent, and wonder.

“Amidst the Ruins” releases on February 7th via Season of Mist!

LISTEN to singles from “Amidst the Ruins” on Bandcamp here.

LIKE Saor on Facebook here.