Monday, November 21, 2011

Weylin's Slayer Orchestra - What Lies Ahead

Hear The Track Here


Had a bit of a shock when I was starting the review for this track. Over the year or so I have been listening to Weylin's Slayer Orchestra, I've actually handed him a couple of Must Have's which - given the soundtrack genre - is a by God miracle. There again, the soundtracks Weylin imagines in his musical endeavours is a very different one to the one usually conjured up by those words. For example, most people would not equate 'metal' with soundtrack. Well, Weylin would. More to the point, I am wrong in ascribing him to the soundtrack genre, there is so much more to his music than that neat little pigeonhole.

If you'd have said to me a couple of years ago that I would be grooving on something called 'progressive metal' in the future I would have laughed and probably called you something quite rude. Had you also said that the groovy material in question would have a distinct whiff of soundtrackery about it, I'd have been dialling up the men with the little white coats - for you, not for me. Which just goes to show that even old farts such as myself can change their minds once in a while. Having said that, What Lies Ahead is pretty much what I expect from this musician (familiarity breeding contempt again?) but not, I suspect, as good as some of the tracks he has delivered in the recent past.

This is an artist who, despite every prejudice I parade before him. has still managed to notch up a couple of Must Haves from me so he must be doing something right. I think my problem (if that is the correct word even) with this track is something that is common in all of Weylin's material, that of an (extremely) over-active kick drum. If he had been using live drummers, no doubt Weylins would have killed a good many by now with massive exhaustion and whiplash from the speed you have to move at. Not natural for a human being, let alone a drummer.... Anyway, minor quibbles. If you've liked what Weylin has done in the past, this is a welcome addition.

Highly Recommended Progressive Metal

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