Waylander is a pagan metal band, formed in Armagh (Northern Ireland) in 1993. A year ago they released 4th full lenght album entitled "Kindred Spirits", containing a great portion of oldschool pagan metal. It was a good oportunity to ask them some questions. Read what a co-founder and vocalist of the group, Ard Chieftain O'Hagan, have to say about last album, his band and some other various things.
1. Hello! Let’s start this interview with
something nice and easy – please name some good music that you have listened to
recently.
Greetings. Recently I have been listening to my
old tapes. A lot of the old Thrash stuff hasn’t aged well but Sepultura’s
"Schizophrenia" is one album that stands the test of time. I’ve been
really enjoying Bathory’s "Blood Fire Death" and "Under the Sign
of the Black Mark", truly inspiring music.
2. OK, that was a warm up, now let’s talk about
your band. It’s been a more than a year since you released your last opus
„Kindred Spirits”. What were fans’ reactions on this material? Did you receive
any negative opinions?
Most people were of the opinion that Kindred
Spirits is our strongest album thus far, which is obviously pleasing to us. I
honestly can’t recall reading a really negative review, which makes me a tad
paranoid to be honest!
3. I must say that the title „Kindred Spirits”
is very intriguing. Can you tell me something about the lyrical concept of this
album? What are your favourite lyrics and why?
Kindred Spirits refers to those who are
followers of the olden ways, those who consider the Earth we live on to be
sacred. On this album I am quite pleased with the lyrics to Lamh Dearg, I think
they set the scene well and poses some questions which would be considered a
bit controversial round these parts.
4. It seems that a lyrical part of your
creativeness is very important to you. Do you think that people who listens to
your music get interest in Irish literature and history?
Over the years many people have developed an
interest in Irish Folklore and History after getting into Waylander. It is very
gratifying to say the least and makes it all worth while for me on a personal
level. Coming from the north I find it especially pleasing when people
from opposing traditions can both take something positive and enlightening from
my words.
5. When it comes to a metal section your music
is very diverse – there are many musical influences which we can hear on every
album; black metal, doom, thrash and even classic heavy… Each member of the
band is such an open-minded person, haha?
Some of us are more open minded than others,
that’s for sure! Basically, we are all just Metal fans who don’t as a rule get
ourselves bogged down in any one particular genre. From a personal perspective
I just couldn’t imagine only listening to one genre only, it would bore me to
tears. Diversity is the spice of life.
6. As far as I know your plan was to create a
bit more heavy album than “Honour Amongst Chaos”. I think that you’ve reached
the goal. But why did you decide to go into darker musical fields? What was
inspiring for you this time during a composing process?
Most of us are into the more extreme end of
metal so it made sense that we travelled down that road a little more than
usual. We did agree at the outset of this album that this was our goal but to
be honest it wasn’t really discussed much more after that initial meeting.
7. You are playing folk metal in very oldschool
way – I mean, the folk tunes are only an addition to a purely metal core. I’d
like to know how looks your style of making new songs. Do you always starts
with a metal riff, or sometimes the first step is a creation of folk tunes?
For the most part the riff comes first but
obviously there are exceptions to this rule. Whatever sounds good to us really
is our simplistic way of judging things. We have always said we are a Metal
band, not a Folk band and that remains true to this day and I am pretty sure
this will continue to be our mantra.
8. By the way, I heard that you don’t like the
term “folk metal”. Is that true? Do you think that there are to many poor
bands, and so you don’t want to be associated with them? Nowadays there are
loads of bands that plays jolly polka-metal, singing about trolls and booze, so
it wouldn’t be a big surprise for me…
Haha, yes, I think you have hit the nail on the
head there. When we began there was no such thing as folk metal, it was
something that was invented by journalists. At the end of the day it isn’t very
important what we are dubbed. We are what we are, like it or not, call it what
you will.
9. One more question bounded with genres. I
noticed quite many times that your band is labeled as “Viking metal”. Don’t you
think it’s kinda weird for a Celtic band, especially that your ancestors were
fighting with the Scandinavian raiders during the Viking Age?
I’ve never really noticed that we’ve been called
Viking metal before. Now, that is the height of lazy journalism! In fact, it is
retarded. The Irish, after all, gave the norsemen quite a few kickings over the
years!
10. OK, back to the music. What inspires you
when you are adding folk tunes into the songs? A Celtic folk scene is pretty
big, so can you name some particular bands?
Horslips and Clannad always. There’s no point in
getting bogged down in listing bands. At the end of the day, the irish
traditional music scene is alive and vibrant and there is a multitude of things
to be inspired by.
11. Let’s talk a bit about your past now. There
are quite many interviews in which you’re describing band’s history, so I will
focus only on some details here. You founded your band 20 years ago, in 1993,
in the time when folk metal almost hadn’t exist. Can I know how has it happen
that you started to incorporate a folk tunes into your music? Maybe a Skyclad
was one of inspirations for you back than?
Many years before Waylander I had an idea for a
heavy metal version of the Horslips but nothing ever came of it. When Skyclad
came along it was only a matter of time before Waylander were formed. I was a
big Sabbat fan and was quite blown away by "Wayward Sons" when it
came out.
12. By the way, what do you think about this
band nowadays? Don’t you think that they deserve more attention, as one of the
pioneers of this pagan/folk metal genre?
To be honest I’m not that bothered by anything
post "Jonah’s Ark". And, yes, they definitely should get a lot more credit
for defining a genre.
13. Until “The Light, The Dark and The Endless
Knot” your music was a bit more raw and extreme. So how has it happen that you
had soften your sound on “Honour Amongst Chaos”? That was a plan, or maybe it
came naturally to light during the creation of the new album?
No plan, and I have to disagree with you here as
I don’t think our sound softened at all on Honour Amongst Chaos. We did
consciously add more atmosphere but I think the almost ‘ proggy ‘ feel to the
album came about due to the length of time we had the songs around for. We
couldn’t resist adding little parts here and there. At one stage one of the
songs clocked in at 23 minutes for example but we somehow managed to edit it
down to 10 minutes.
14. “The Light…” has a very weird artwork, well,
at least I think it’s a bit weird haha. Can you tell me what story is hidden
behind this picture?
It’s all about perceptions of Light and Dark.
One figure is the Horned God, Cernunnos, who the christian church demonized,
who became the satan figure. The other is the Earth Goddess, a representation
of Light. The Endless Knot connects both of them as they are all part of the
cycle of life. The artwork does seem different for Waylander, but in saying
that, that album was also very different for Waylander. In effect this was an
experimental album which didn’t quite turn out how we expected it to. The
artwork was created by Paul McCarroll of Unhinged art fame and was a definite
deviation from his normal work.
15. As I see it, after releasing “Honour…” your
position on pagan metal scene has strengthen. This album had much better
promotion than the previous ones, and since then you don’t struggle with too
many line-up changes. What do you think about it? It seems that Listenable
cares pretty well about your band.
I agree with you here. Listenable have done all
they can for such a small label. They took a punt on us when noone else would
so we will always be grateful for that. As for lineup changes, well, these
things happen, we’ve got to the stage now where it no longer fazes us in any
way.
16. OK, now let’s talk about some things outside
the world of music. I know that nowadays not many people on your island speaks
Irish. So do you know this language personally?
The language is still spoken in many areas and
the number of primary schools who teach through the language is very much on
the increase, so I think the language is here to stay. As for me, I am not
fluent but I still can converse on a basic level and have a great respect for
the language of my land. My son and nephew are now learning the language so I
am trying to help them out and in turn this is good for me as i now have to
polish up on my knowledge.
17. The Irish literature is reach in many
meaningful characters. Who is the most inspiring Irish hero for you and why?
CuChulainn, without a shadow of a doubt. He
trained as a warrior near to where I was born, at Emain Macha, the Ancient
capital of the northern province of Ulster, so I always have and always will
have a special place in my heart for CuChulainn.
18. Last question is simple. What are your plans
for the future?
To write more music that inspires us.
19. That’s everything I’d like to ask. Thank you
very much for your time, and good luck in the future! If there is anything you
would like to add, feel free to do it. Cheers!
Many thanks for the questions and the support,
it is greatly appreciated.
---
A single from "Kindred Spirits":
Photos: band's archieve.
Interview by Vladyka 2013. Please do not copy
this interview without HA'Z permission. Respect the copyrights!
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