06/19/2026
- Korentin Le Davay – Vocals
- Camille Bossard – Acoustic guitar, backing vocals
- Elouan Le Couls – Violin, backing vocals
- Mathieu Messager – Bombard, backing vocals
- Matthieu Foltête – Diatonic accordion, backing vocals
- Louri Derrien – Trumpet, biniou, backing vocals
- Meriadeg Lorho-Pasco – Bass clarinet, backing vocals
It should come as no surprise to anyone reading our reviews that in our opinion War-Sav’s first recording, Ar Vuhez, released in 2021, is one of the all-time classics of Breton music. We love this band. Front-man Korentin Le Davay has an incredibly appealing, energetic vocal presence and the rest of the band contributes in equally impressive ways. Now War-Sav is back with a second recording, Septet, a live recording named after the fact that the lineup has expanded to seven.
While Davay of course, as well as talabarder Mathieu Messager already stood out as particularly stellar performers in their first recording, it is heartening that all of the other original band members - Camille Bossard (guitar and backing vocals), Elouan Le Couls (violin and backing vocals), and Matthieu Foltête (diatonic accordion and backing vocals) are so palpably rock-solid in their respective roles on this recording.
To make a septet, the original quintet added long-time friends Meriadeg Lorho-Pasco (Kreiz Breizh Akademi 8, Eien) on bass clarinet & vocals and Louri Derrien (Modkozmik, Kreiz Breizh Akademi 7, Arn, Derrien/Le Sauze) on trumpet, biniou, and vocals. The 15-track recording’s repertoire is new, albeit with a couple re-imagined pieces repeated from the first recording.
So did War-Sav escape the dreaded ‘sophomore slump’? Even the iconic group Gwerz with vocalist Erik Marchand, whom Le Davay has been frequently compared to, were never able to fully recapture the magic of their seminal first recording. The sophomore slump is all too common. Fortunately for all of us, Septet is a brilliant recording which expands the band’s core sound with a much broader palette of instrumentation and arrangements that really shine. This is a dense, deeply joyful recording that elevates the arrangements of their repertoire while adding a big, complex soundscape as the bedrock of the sound.
Upon first listen I thought the expanded lineup subsumed the explosive energy of the band into a duller, murkier sound, but as I spent more time with Septet this perception quickly faded. The wall of sound from the expanded roster of instruments hits hard, and makes a compelling backdrop for the lead voice and instrumentation. Wall of sound is perhaps a misleading descriptor, however, for the band frequently and cleverly shifts to novel combinations - a solo accordion section (O tont demeus an eured), a bombard and biniou couple (Plinn ton double - Person Plijidi) or a vocal accompanied only by a plucked violin (Ar Vuhez) before one or more instruments add back on in a complex, ever-shifting tableau of evolving themes, instruments, and countermelodies. This is most emphatically not a band straightforwardly plowing through the ‘A’ and ‘B’ sections of traditional material. There is a lot going on here and it makes for an engaging listening experience.
Two tracks, Da servij ar roue and Chadenn ar garantez, also use a vocal chorus in call-and-response to Le Davay’s lead vocals. The vocal chorus is well done and unusual, a sound not notably explored in contemporary Fest Noz music outside of a few recordings, most notably from the group Spontus.
Of special note is new addition Derrien, whose biniou and especially trumpet work is one of the standouts of the recording. I hope that War-sav holds on to this player even if the Septet lineup is eventually let go. It is not at all surprising that a powerful melody instrument like the trumpet fits so well into this genre, and the back-and-forth lead melody lines between the bombard and trumpet found across Septet are really satisfying.
While Septet is an immersive and exhilarating recording,, compared to their first outing it suffers in one notable area : ear fatigue. Both of our main reviewers have a similar listening habit, which is to put a good album on and listen to it… over and over and over again, until it is absorbed into one’s bones.
Although Septet features careful and clever arrangements, there are a whole lot of horns in this group, and that big sound wears on the ears in a way that the core quintet does not. Still, for most normal listeners playing the recording on a more ad hoc basis the increased blast radius of this recording likely won’t be a limiting factor.
With Septet, the hottest band playing Fest Noz music today has released a completely successful second recording, expanding out from their core sound while not losing what made us all love them in the first place. It brings me such joy to hear a new recording from a wildly impressive band that continues to forge ahead with full momentum and artistic integrity. We recognize that this is a strange period for international commerce and therefore shipping costs are running high, but this recording is easily available from Arfolk.bzh. Highly recommended!
Tracklist of WAR-SAV Septet – LIVE:
1. An dro – Da servij ar wheel
2. Polka – O tont demeus an eured
3. Round de Saint-Vincent – From Notre-Dame to the Paquelais
4. Scottish – L’Aiga de ròcha
5. Dañs tro Plin – Me ’zo bet barzh an Ifern
6. Bal Plin – Deuit ganin minorez
7. Dañs tro Plin – Person Plijidi
8. Mazurka – Ar Vuhez?
9. Laride 8 temps – Chadenn ar guarantee
10. Gavotte Kost-ar-C’hoad – An Dizertour
11. Cercle Circassian
12. Gavotte Montagne – Yannig ar bambocher
13. Bal de la Montagne – Pa oan o sevel Tosenn ar Roz
14. Gavotte Montagne – Nozvezh kentañ ma eured
15. Round de Loudéac – Roullier in the sand
~ Fañch
