SAOR

Saor is a one-man atmospheric folk/black metal project from Glasgow, Scotland, founded in 2013 by multi-instrumentalist Andy Marshall. The project was preceded by Àrsaidh (2012–2013), under which Marshall recorded his debut album Roots — later re-released under the Saor name. The word "saor" means "free" and "unconstrained" in Scottish Gaelic; Marshall describes his music as "Caledonian Metal," deeply rooted in the landscapes, history, and poetry of Scotland.

The project rose to prominence through a series of critically acclaimed albums that merge furious black metal riffing with traditional Scottish folk instrumentation — bagpipes, flutes, fiddles — and sweeping, cinematic arrangements. Guardians (2016) and Forgotten Paths (2019) are widely regarded as high-water marks of the atmospheric black metal subgenre, cementing Saor's place among the foremost voices of nature-worshipping, ancestrally charged metal. Signed to Season of Mist from Origins (2022) onward, the project continues to reach ever wider audiences while preserving a deeply personal and geographically rooted artistic identity. The most recent album, Amidst the Ruins, was released in 2025.