Waylander (band)
| Waylander | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| General information | |
| origin | Armagh , Northern Ireland |
| Genre (s) | Folk metal |
| founding | 1993 |
| Founding members | |
| Ciaran "Ard Chieftain" O'Hagan | |
| Dermot O'Hagan (until 2003) | |
| Current occupation | |
singing |
Ciaran "Ard Chieftain" O'Hagan |
Electric guitar |
Saul McMichael (since 2004) |
Electric guitar |
Tor Dennison (since 2011) |
| Steve Reynolds (since 2018) | |
| Lee Mccartney (since 2013) | |
| Dave Briggs (since 2006) | |
| former members | |
Electric bass |
Jason Barriskill † (until 1995) |
Electric guitar |
Peter Boylan (1993, 1999-2001) |
| Dermot O'Hagan (1993-2003) | |
Tin whistle |
Máirtín Mac Cormaic (1996-2002) |
Drums |
Bo Murphy (2000-2001) |
Electric guitar |
Owen Boden (2001-2003) |
Drums |
Nick Shannon (2001-2003) |
Electric guitar |
Fearghal Duffy (2003-2004) |
Electric guitar |
Kevin Canavan (2003) |
Electric guitar |
Alan Connolly (2005) |
Electric guitar |
Ade Mulgrew (2008) |
Electric guitar |
Gareth "Gaz" Murdock (2005-2008, 2008-2009) |
Electric guitar |
Hugh O'Neill (2009-2011) |
Drums, electric bass |
Den Ferran (1993-2000, 2003-2013) |
Electric bass |
Michael Proctor (1995-2018) |
Waylander is a Northern Irish folk metal band. The band was founded in Armagh in 1993 and, along with Cruachan and Primordial, is considered a pioneer band of the Celtic Metal, which is sometimes referred to as a subgenre of folk metal .
history
Waylander was founded in 1993 by brothers Ciaran and Dermot O'Hagan. The first demo appeared in 1995 under the name Once Upon an Era . When Máirtín Mac Cormaic was a tin whistle player with the band in 1996 , the second demo Dawning of a New Age was recorded, which made the band known in the folk metal scene. After the band switched to Century Media , the first album Reawakening Pride Once Lost was released in 1998. Several concerts were played to promote the album; Problems with the label and internal disputes, however, dampened the band's success. After a few line-up changes, Waylander signed with Blackend Records and released the album The Light, the Dark and the Endless Knot in early 2001 . While the band's first album was widely praised in the trade press, The Light, the Dark and the Endless Knot received mostly devastating reviews. In her review of the album in Metal Hammer , Petra Schurer commented on the album with the words:
“[...] Waylander [disappoint] with their second pagan metal album down the line. Although the Irish [...] use a number of nicely thought-out elements, [...] the arrangement of the individual components is never convincing. What sounds there is simply boring. Waylander torment themselves [sometimes] for minutes in epic yawning breadth (and in parts also technically amateurish) through simple guitar solos, monotonous singing strategies and doom riffs, without conveying even a spark of joy in playing. Simplicity does not always mean lack of imagination: But in the case of Waylander you can't help but get the impression that the troupe is acutely lacking in ideas. And that should change damn quickly if Waylanders don't want to go down the earthly path all too quickly in the near future. "
Further disputes resulted in further line-up changes in the following years. Nevertheless, the band managed to play some important concerts and festival appearances, such as with Ancient Rites , Cathedral and Skyforger or at the Bloodstock Open Air and the Day of Darkness Festival. After moving to Listenable Records , Waylander released the album Honor Amongst Chaos in 2008 . Which, unlike the band's second studio album, got better reviews from the trade press. Robert Müller from Metal Hammer gave the album 4 out of 7 points and wrote:
“[T] he third album by the Pagan Metallers [sounds] amazingly consistent [...]. Unfortunately, it also shows that the musical charm of the battle chants [...] accompanied by subtle Celtic sounds has worn off quite a bit since the cool debut REAWAKENING PRIDE ONCE LOST. This is to a large extent also due to the sometimes rather poor musical performances of the men around screamer "ArdChieftain" Ciaran O'Hagan, and partly to the uniformity of the songs. The sound is definitely cool [thanks in part to some interestingly arranged pieces]. Nevertheless, 80 percent of HONOR AMONGST CHAOS consist of only minimally varied metallic frontal attacks. "
The debut album Reawakening Pride Once Lost was also re-released on CD and LP by Midhir Records that same year. Gaz Murdock left Waylander in 2008, was briefly replaced by Ade Mulgrew, and returned to the band towards the end of the year. At the beginning of 2009 he left the band again quite spontaneously to switch to Alestorm , although there were a few concerts coming up for the near future. At these Dermot O'Hagan completed the line-up for a short time, until they found a permanent guitarist in Hugh O'Neill.
style
Waylander plays heavy metal with strong Irish folk elements, so they can be classified as folk metal . The texts deal with Celtic mythology and history, some of the texts also come from Irish / Celtic folklore. Comparisons are made with Skyclad , among others .
Discography
Demos
- 1994: Once Upon an Era ( MC ; self-distribution )
- 1996: Dawning of a New Age (MC; self-distribution)
Studio albums
- 1998: Reawakening Pride Once Lost (CD / MC; Century Media )
- 2001: The Light, the Dark and the Endless Knot (CD / MC; Blackend / Plastic Head Records)
- 2008: Honor Amongst Chaos (CD; Listenable Records )
- 2012: Kindred Spirits (CD; Listenable Records)
- 2019: Eriú's Wheel (CD; Listenable Records)
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Petra Schurer: Review: Waylander - The Light, the Dark and the Endless Knot . In: Metal Hammer , December 2001 edition, AS Young Mediahouse Mediahouse GmbH, Munich 2001
- ^ Robert Müller: Review: Waylander - Honor Amongst Chaos . In: Metal Hammer , August 2008 edition, Axel Springer Mediahouse München GmbH, Munich 2008
- ^ Robert Müller: Review: Waylander - Reawakening Pride Once Lost . In: Metal Hammer , April 1998 edition, Jürg Marquard publishing group, Zug 1998, p. 96