Thy Primordial are certainly not the most brutal or extreme band out there, and they don’t pretend to be, but they have that high energy intensity that black metal demands to go along with strong songwriting skills and an ear for melody. There is plenty of melody generated the old-style metal way – from guitar. No folk influences here, or any unusual instruments. If you are a fan of Ancient Rites this is an album you will enjoy and if you are a fan of Dark Funeral you should appreciate it as well.

Not many bands can boast of four full-length releases with the same line-up. This long time five piece is now a four member band. The Crowning Carnage is the first album without all five founding members as guitarist N. Nilsson has left. Having a one guitar attack instead of twin guitars has not hurt them much. If anything, the playing is a bit more precise than on previous efforts and maybe a bit harsher because of it as well.

The Crowning Carnage is not as memorable melody wise as At The World of Untrodden Wonder, but definitely equals The Heresy of an Age of Reason. Structurally, the songs are tighter this time. Vocals once again are in the growling style used on The Heresy… instead of the black shrieks of the earlier albums. On The Crowning Carnage, the vocals have even more of a Lemmy Kilmister feel because the blackened edge prevalent on its predecessor is now mostly gone. Isidor proves to be an adept growler because he has not lowered his pitch so far as to be death metal and he is easier to understand now, though it may just be that I have gotten used to his voice over the years and can therefore catch more of the words on the first listen.

Maybe now that they are on Blackend, distributed by Candlelight, and no longer on Pulverized, the tiny label from Singapore, they will start to get noticed. This is not album of the year material, but it is a high quality release from an above average band that now can boast four quality albums. While they are likely to continue to release quality material, that elusive element that elevates the excellent to legendary is still beyond their reach.

After a promising debut on Century Media in 1998, the band ran into some label issues, revolving band members, and was eventually signed to Blackend. I think the instability has affected to level of output and time the band can focus on song-writing, as the material on The Light, the Dark and the Endless Knot falls far short of the debut record. This is unfortunate, as Waylander really have some elements that make them stand out from the pack, they are just not fully utilized effectively.

Musically, Waylander produce average death/thrash riffs pulling obviously from NWBHM and other European metal outfits; the problem is it just isn’t played very well. The drums sometimes are out of sync, the guitars riffs are sloppy, and on the rare moments when the band speed up, all the instruments seem to fit together out of sheer luck rather than skill. Overall it sounds like a well produced demo, and reminded me in quality of Cruachan’s primitive Tuatha Na Gael. However, the band has recently undergone even more line-up changes, and hopefully this will solve the numerous musical issues.

On top of the questionable playing, the Celtic elements seem thrown in as an afterthought just fit the imagery, and its limited to only a tin whistle and flute. Hardly awe inspiring pagan grandeur. I wouldn’t mind this if the music itself stood up fine on its own, but it doesn’t. None of the riffs really invoke the required atmosphere to complete Waylander’s desired pagan effect. The odd acoustic flute interlude and tin whistle over some of riffs doesn’t cut it, especially when other bands in the genre have far more variation and depth to their ethnic elements. Then the failing coup de grace, the entire album suffers from the Curse Of The Awful Clean Vocals. Yes, the singer can growl and snarl adequately but he (Ciaran O’Hagan) has a severe case of “crapcleanvocalitis” – possibly even worse than displayed on Hin Onde’s recent album. Even attempts at bouncy jig type songs, which normally really get me going, fall flat due to all the aforementioned elements (“After the Fall” and “Release the Spirit Within”).

I hate writing negative reviews, but a really had a hard time finding much positive about this album, as Waylander took a huge step back from Reawakening Pride Once Lost. Essentially Waylander do have the tools the make a impact in the pagan/Celtic metal ring, but until they learn to play more cohesively, settle on a label and stabilize the line-up, the amazing potential won’t be realized. However, I will still investigate future releases as I think external and internal adversity has temporarily taken the some of the bite out of this once proud clan. Hopefully, after some time thy will return triumphantly.