The ancient foundations of the multi-instrumentalist of Saor lie with Andy Marshall, the Scottish frontman of this Caledonian metal band.
With a repertoire of six albums, the current one, released via Season of Mist, delivers a combination of black metal with folk elements that, once again, plunge Saor into the roster of Scottish black metal bands, alongside Hellripper and much more.
We conversed with the skillful mind behind Saor, and learned not only a bit of music, but also a small tour guide whenever traveling to Scotland. Amidst the Ruins (2025) concerns one hour of pure raw and powerful riffs with some interesting suave and ambient sounds.
M.I. - Being a multi-instrumentalist in both Saor and Fuath mustn’t be an easy job. How does the recording and writing process take place?
The writing process is really natural for me; when I start writing a new album, I just get some guitar melodies and ideas. The recording is a bit more difficult, because I’m obviously taking it all in. I usually record the guitars, bass and vocals myself. Also, I coordinate with a few guest musicians who help with acoustic guitars, drums, the folk elements and the strings, and that’s how it works.
M.I. - Both are listed as black metal bands, but, personally for you, how would you describe Saor’s sound and lyricism?
I came up with the title Caledonian Metal, because I don’t particularly think it’s a 100% black metal. This is a personal project of mine, especially because I love music, and I don’t intend to be just black metal. I will always be influenced by atmospheric black metal, and I will always play a part of it in Saor’s sound. I also enjoy adding some folk elements, ambiance, post-rock or even movie soundtracks. Also, there are old and very different styles of music where I take all my musical inspiration and put it into Saor. I know a lot of people call it black metal, and particularly enjoy putting things in a box, but I wouldn’t describe the band as just black metal. I would say atmospheric black or folk metal, but as you know I don’t own the tag name. I prefer using Caledonian metal, based in Scottish theme metal music.
M.I. - Amidst the Ruins (2025) is your second album via Season of Mist, which is known for having a great roster of bands and musicians such as Abbath, Enthroned and Gaerea. Insofar, how has the experience been working with the label been?
So far so good! We have only released Origins (2022) just after COVID-19. Things were a little bit crazy back then, but they really did a good job of getting the album out and promoting it.
It’s basically the same with the current one; it’s been really great working with them. Obviously, they have a really good roster of bands and couldn’t be happier.
M.I. - Every Saor album tells us a story and is heavily focused on your ancestry and Scotland. What can you tell us about the upcoming one?
The albums aren’t really specific on themes, it’s not a concept album. Every song has a different meaning, for example “Glen of Sorrow” it’s about the clan Colquhon, if you’d like to read about that, and the “Sylvan Embrace” is about seeking peace within the nature.
It’s loads of different themes on the album, nothing conceptual. Every song has, of course, a different meaning. I take inspiration mainly from nature, landscape and merging into Saor.
M.I. - The song “The Sylvan Embrace” is undoubtedly something, and Joanna Quail adds the perfect combination with her cello and elegant harmonies. How did you craft a song such as this one?
I don’t even know! We’ve played acoustics before gigs in the last few years of the metal tracks. The feedback was positive, and this was an inspiration for me.
I’ve done all the metal tracks, and I thought and acoustic one would fit very well, to calm things down, before you are launched back to the metal sound. I always wanted to do something like this, so I picked up the acoustic guitar and collaborated with Ella Zlotos. I also got in touch with Jo Quail, because I’m a big fan of her work, and she added really cool cello parts.
The atmosphere in the background ended up perfectly well. When we sent to Jo our parts, it completely changed and came out as a new and better song.
M.I. - The background of the video of “Amidst the Ruins” is definitely Scotland? Where exactly and why you chose this beautiful landscape for this specific video?
Yes, definitely parts of Scotland. The Isle of Skye, especially, because my father has a place over there, and I often went there when I was young.
It’s a very secluded place, away from everything and everyone, to recharge your batteries. There’s also Glencoe which is not too far from where I live, and I love going there. I guess there’s something in the mountains there that has something personal to me.
M.I. - The artwork of Julian Bauer showcases us ancient monoliths, often associated with prehistoric cultures. Why choose them for your artwork’s cover?
I found his artwork on a few bands that we worked with. I got in touch with him, shared a few ideas that I had and I wanted someone coming back from the past, like a druid or something who used to be around the stones circles.
It’s definitely something back to the pagan days, and this is basically my idea, like a fantasy idea. However, I enjoyed the idea of a man coming back from the past, travelling a 1000 years later to the same land and the same untouched landscape. Then, Julian made 10.000 times way better, it basically gave life back to my idea.
M.I. - Thank you very much for your time. Indeed, it was a great pleasure speaking with you. Would you like to share any message with our readers?
Thank you very much for your time, and I hope you continue to support Saor. I hope you fully enjoy the new album.
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Listen to Saor, on Spotify
Questions by André Neves
