I couldn’t miss an opportunity to see Saor again, especially on an event like this – the 10th anniversary of Aura. The entire lineup is good though, although getting to the venue tonight is not without incident, annoyingly.
I didn’t manage to catch all of Domhain’s set at this year’s excellent Fortress Festival, so I was looking forward to seeing them properly tonight. Sadly, due to horrendous traffic I’m extremely late and miss them entirely. Frustrating is too mild a word! Hopefully third time’s the charm in the future.
Cân Bardd
I do manage to see Cân Bardd though, and their grandiose folk-tinged atmospheric black metal sounds good and goes down a treat.
Cân Bardd’s epic style is rendered in all of its glory tonight. The sound is surprisingly clear, and the music makes the most of it. Of particular note are the band’s use of layered clean singing, which is reproduced live extremely well, and is powerfully delivered. The backing keyboard elements are warm and immersive, and the blast beats feel thunderous. The band are animated and give it their all.
There’s also a guest, (from Saor), that joins them onstage for one song playing a tin whistle. She also contributes some vocals, although they can’t easily be heard unfortunately, (thankfully this is no issue during Saor’s set).
Delivering a good performance and benefiting from a strong sound overall, I really liked Cân Bardd tonight. The crowd give them a positive response throughout, and Cân Bardd leave the stage triumphant.
Saor
Tonight Saor are playing all of their debut record Aura, although they do so in a different order than on album. When I first heard Aura I thought it was merely ‘alright’, but it went on to grow on me massively, to the point where I’m excited to see it played tonight in full.
Within their niche Saor aren’t exactly a small band, so I’m surprised by the rather poor turnout tonight. On the other hand, there are at least two other metal shows on in Manchester tonight, (albeit each with a different genre focus to Saor), that may have contributed to it. Either way, those that are here tonight are in for a treat, it turns out.
Pillars of the Earth starts us off with its atmospheric build up and melodic assault. The melodies are seared into my brain at this point, and the band recreate the song wonderfully. There’s even live bagpipes. The doom section with the dominant lonesome melody gives me goosebumps, but the entire song is fantastic.
After this, Saor waste no time in launching into Children of the Mist, with its initial chunky riffing. There’s not quite enough of the guitar in the sound mix for my taste, but that’s only a minor quibble in the grand scheme of things – the song is still another potent display of Saor’s abilities. The band’s performances are engaging and they’re clearly enjoying themselves.
The Awakening blasts into existence with charismatic aggression and commanding atmosphere. The epic cleans are powerful and uplifting, and at some point the guitar sound issue has been mostly sorted out. Like the two before it, this is another great song, with a great live rendition.
Opening with a stadium-worthy beat, Farewell continues the evening’s immersive experience. Awash with stirring melancholy, it can’t fail to be an emotive delivery, as the material is just that strong. Like much of Aura this song is absorbing and memorable in a lasting way; not just the melodies and clean vocals, but the entire musical package. I particularly like the drums on all of these songs, (they’re more nuanced and varied than they typically are for a record of this sort), and the drummer’s performance tonight does them justice.
Finally we get Aura unleashed in all of its atmospheric grandeur. It’s one of the best on the album, and consequently one of the best of the evening too. So, so good. There is a bit of synchronised guitar antics at one point too, which is endearing more than anything. Saor are on fire and they know it.
They unexpectedly close the show with Bròn off 2019’s Forgotten Paths, because why not? Bonus Saor is always welcome!
The time flies by, and before you know it Saor are done and have left the stage. A great night out.
Wonderbox Metal 
Nice review, I was at the London show for this. I came across your review as I was trying to finish off figuring out the setlist for setlist.fm for Can Bardd lol. Sad to hear Saor didn’t get the turnout they deserved. They certainly got it in London though.