Waylander was founded in 1993, but debuted in 1998 with Reawakening Pride Once Lost. After a few line-up changes and a label switch, this Irish band finally found their haven at Listenable Records. Their latest album, Honour Amongst Chaos, has been released after a pause of 7 years. Wrap yourself in leather, grab a bodhrán and follow the happy tunes.

Waylander’s combination of extreme metal with Celtic tunes is somewhat different from other bands in the folk metal genre. Their approach is more aggressive; incorporating more blast beats, more guitar solos and overall just more speed. Vocally, the screams leave little space for the – seemingly mandatory – choirs. Clean parts in tracks have been kept to a minimum, if any.

This extreme approach has its pros and cons. In ‘Galloping Gaels’, for example, you get the feeling you’re listening to just another black metal track. The celtic instruments just disappear halfway through, only leaving a very faint background tune which is quite hard to distinguish from the rest.
The melodeath / meloblack way of folk metal has its charm, as well. ‘To Dine In The Otherworld’ is a perfect track in terms of extreme metal combined with folk tunes. Loads of clean guitars and flute / bodhrán, suddenly interrupted by shredding guitars and gutripping vocals. That’s how I like my folk metal.

Although the separation between styles of metal is just too big sometimes, Waylander did accomplish one thing: their approach to folk metal will give every fan out there a new perspective on what to expect from this scene in the near future. Let’s hope that this won’t be the last innovative album in the genre we’ll see for a long time.