CD Reviews of Dundee Rock Band SAZ
 
 
 
 
 
 
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 Intro + Saturday Night 

2011 RADIO INTERVIEW BY ANDY G.
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GIG AND DEMO REVIEWS BY ANDY G.
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SAZ - crushing heavy metal that's delivered with the firepower of a small army - featuring the core trio of electric guitar, electric bass and drums - a powerhouse of furnace heat proportions - the two female vocalists provide the focus of attention while the wholly original songs will have all metal fans, from traditional to thrash, eating out of the palms of their hands from the moment they start to deliver the goods. Not only Dundee's finest metal band, but one that deserves to be hallowed from Kerrang to Metal Hammer and beyond...Andy G.
 
GIG REVIEWS
 
Hustlers, Dundee 16-02-08
 
The first in the 2008 season of Mermaid Rock Promotions - dedicated to featuring Classic Rock in all its forms - proved to be a remarkable success with Hustlers witness to a three-figure audience and some seriously on-fire performances. SAZ opened the evening, their first gig of the year, and turned out a rip-roaring set of killer songs. With Amy and Nicola on vocals, they turned the power up to eleven and hurled out this massive mix of metal, punk and pop to provide the audience with a real blast. Most songs are led by guitarist Kev, unleashing a monster riff to herald the new song as Marina on mighty bass work and Ritchie on powerhouse drums, provide the foundations along which the expres train flies. Amy's voice is a really strong mix of gothic and metal styles, delivered with a passion that sets the place alight, while Nicola's spot-on timing harmonies, soaring choruses and solid-sounding leads, provide the perfect vocal counterpoint to Amy, and it's this remarkable combination that makes the band so unique sounding. Add that to a set of songs that can't fail to hang around in your head long after they're gone, and you have a stunning band. Tonight, for the first time in a long while, they unveiled a new track, a typically powerful number where the vocalists shared the limnelight and just as you think it's hit its peak, Ritchie delivers this spiralling sea of powerful drumming, mid-song, to take it even higher as the whole thing leaves you awestruck at the potential this band has.
 
 
The Plough, Forfar 29-12-07
 
The third of 4 nights of concerts organised by Ian at The Plough in Forfar for Christmas and pre-New Year entertainment, was a rock and metal night. To a large audience, SAZ kicked off proceedings and, over a good PA, provided a rip-roaring set of metalli-punk-popthat was greeted with a fine and enthusiastic reception as the band continue to draw ever more fans and apprciative admirers into their songs and performances. With Amy back there for the first time since debuting there with the band a while back, she gave a blistering performance on lead vocals on tracks such as "Grip", "Scavenger" and "Metal Attack" with that full-throated vocal crashing out of the PA forcefully and commandingly. Nicola, still with the legacy of a Christmas cold, nevertheless, provided a solid role of support, harmony and occasional co-lead vocal, with the result that the 2-voice arrangements that give this band the unique vocal sound that only they have, was vented with all guns blazing. Instrumentally tight, Kev's guitar sheared off riffs and sizzling leads while the rhythm section provided a supercharged pumping delivery of heat and drive, Marina as solid as ever on the bass, while Ritchie sped it all forward as one of the most powerful drummers, if not THE most powerful drummer, on the Dundee Scene. All told, another cracking set.
 
 
Dexters, Dundee 11-05-07
 
SAZ decided to start off the proceedings and the ever growing confidence and surging firepower as the quintissentially visual quintet continues to grow. Fresh from the stunning performance at the AC/DC tribute weekend in Kirriemuir, the band unleashed a solid set at breakneck speed with vocalists Amy and Nicola soaring and sparring, solo and harmony, surging through a set of songs that mixed rock and metal with punk and pop. The spot-on timing of the singers with Amy's vocal powerful and on fire, while Nicola's vocals positively flew skywards, is something that makes this band so unique - it's not a case of lead singer and backing singer - this is the precision, passion and power of two rock vocalists who can deliver fast-paced metalli-punk and make it sound so enjoyable while singing in tune, clearly and with an obvious sense of enthusiasm as they prove to be totally hypnotic viewing throughout. Meanwhile, the powerhouse of Ritchie's drumming allied to the surging bass runs and throbbing notes from Marina provided the driving foundations on top of which Kev's lone guitar launched into salvo after salvo of riffs and smoking leads - all in all, one mighty band that is improving by the performance and gaining more respect with every gig.
 
 
DEMO RECORDINGS REVIEW
 
For many years, metal band SAZ have remained at the top of the Dundee rock scene,their knack of finding red hot female vocalists the stuff of legend. But they've saved the best for latest - enter new lead vocalist Amy to join the ranks of Nicola on Harmony and co-lead vocals, Marina on bass, Kev on guitar and Ritchie on drums. Along with that comes four recently recorded tracks that show why this band are the pinnacle of metal and commercial, pop, punk and rock combined in one gloriously wild brew. Things kick off with "Get A Grip", currently one of the most played rock tracks on Tay-FM's morning show, as Kev's scything guitar riff gets things off to a rousing start, the rhythm section bursting in with an adrenaline rush as Amy's powerful lead vocal erupts and Nicola just soars on the choruses, the sheer depth and strength of the dual-female lead vocal dive-bombing its way to armageddon as the song positively flies, its mix of metallic riffing, insistent hooks and downright force, a thing of wonderment and the strongest studio version to date. Then comes the surprise in the form of one of the band's best and long-forgotten songs that is "Pictures" - the song that turned me onto the band in the first place. Introduced by Amy's tension-rising vocal taken at a right old pace, Nicola's breathtaking spot-on timing provides rifle-fire harmonies that give the song its added depth and expansive qualities. The band play as one, a mix of sizzling rifing and driving rhythms that allow the fullmajesty of the song to burst iinto life and rampage yet still retaining all the elements that make it so insanely catchy and a steaming metal anthem, while the Nicola and Amy carry off the vocal with seemingly effortless and spellbinding qualities, Amy just flying along on a track that you just can't wait for them to resurrect in a live set - stunning!! "Metal Attack" begins with a searing solo guitar lead as the rhythm section erupts briefly, the guitar rises, the rhythms ection re-appear, a moment of calm and then - kerboooommm!!!! - Amy delivers this insanely fast vocal, almost snarling the lyrics over the band's urgent arrangement, Marina's bass runs pounding away as the drums knock the song into shape and Kev's guitar drives as though the devil's on its tail, a red-hot guitar break being the icing on the cake as this raging metal-pop anthem sparks into life. Here Nicola provides just the choruses with the extra depth and sparkle that makes this band so unique. Again, sounding more urgent, confident and vibrant than any previously recorded version, this is SAZ at their best, but still promising that this is just the beginning for this line-up. Finally, the cascading guitar riffing that introduces "Suck Bruise Me" is but the start of a song that has a similar atmosphere and flavour to "Pictures" only slower, if "slower" could be said to be a word in this band's vocabulary. Once more Nicola provides the depth of harmony vocals and more sizzling timing on the in-out hooks while Amy sounds a mix of menace, passion and power, ooozing evil and sex at the same time. The band deliver a crashing slice of driving, gliding metal, fuelled by the phenomenal propulsive bass, crunching drums and a river of guitar riffing and rising leads that surface every so often. More harmonious in its effect, more commercial in its qualoity, it nonetheless remains a consummate piece of metalli-punk-pop that can't fail to have you leaping about the place. By any rock standards, this is sensational stuff and, for demo tracks, superbly recorded and played, from one of the UK's finest female-fronted rock bands around today.