Waylander - Honour Among Chaos

Waylander are back, and we are told that during the seven years since the release of their sophomore album 'The Light, The Dark, And The Endless Knott' in 2001, then pagan metallers have been destroying mosh pits while refining the bands lineup, and now are set to unleash 'Honour Among Chaos' on the world.

Any good then you ask? Well actually, yes it is.It's probably not death metally enough for a lot of people, but that's in a lot of ways why I actually dig this album. Musically it's a combination of a mild death growl combined with an interesting mix of extreme drumming, heavy guitars, and more traditional instrumentation, all of which collides in the middle of this record like a maelstrom of sense disturbing chaos - maybe that's where the chaos in the title comes from...

Now there are a lot of great bands out there, many of them combining different styles, so what is it about 'Honour Among Chaos' that is really driving these Northern Irish folk metal titans formward? Well, we the vocals fit nicely; guitars pretty decent; drumming? Yup that's kicking in nicely; but what really drives this album and pushes it over the top is the work of Dave Briggs on Ting Whistle, Mandolin and bodhrán. It's his playing that gives this album a depth that it would have lacked without him.

If you like Turisas, then seriously check these guys out and pick this album up. This probably comes in as a heavier album, but shares a lot in common with the direction and traditional sounds that the Finnish Battle Metallers are trying to create.