Waylander: Kindred Spirits --review--

Waylander  (Northern Ireland): Kindred Spirits (Listenable R.)

Waylander’s thrashing stands apart because the band incorporates the constant use of the folk instrument called the whistle, creating the sound of “Celtic growl thrash.”

Their hard-hitting thrash is consistently intense, appealing to those wanting to hear upfront guitar riffing, not too different from the energy found in recent Exodus and Kreator.  Clearly, Waylander is not “folky” music, but rather energetic thrashing with growling (and no clean singing). I would think that thrashers and deathsters that like bands that “get to the point,” would be a good target audience. As a thrashing band, Waylander has these huge, heavy riffs with rhythms that sound abrasive, while at other times they take a turn towards slightly more tuneful tones, all within a thrash framework.

Various elements of their sound are subsumed under the Celtic thrash, such as blasting, the somewhat more melodic/folk passages and acoustic guitars, but again: don’t confuse this band with sounds of accordion-and-flute folky rock. One song that catches my attention is “A Path Well Trodden,” for working a simple melody on the guitar, with the whistle in tow, and good vocal phrasing. Then again, “Quest for Immortality” is probably the most memorable, for the well-placed chorus and whistle combination. The growling is remarkably death-ish, but intelligible. The fat guitar sound is the foundation that keeps this all together. For some reason, my ears notice that on “Erdath” the bass lines stand out a bit more, and that’s pretty cool.

Strikingly, these mentioned songs are towards the end of the album, so Waylander maintains the quality in the first and second half of their 53-minute album. The energy level is high throughout, without long moments of space/show off/instrumental meandering and with no prolonged slow passages. That’s very good, indeed.  www.listenable.net clanwaylander.com/fr_home.cfm