BAND: THE WAYMAKER
ALBUM: “THE WAYMAKER”
Album Review by Chris Palmer
If you scour the shores of Sweden’s metal scene, you’ll no doubt come across Christian neoclassical power metal act Narnia. Dig a little deeper and you’ll discover vocalist, Christian Rivel-Liljegren. However, further scouring will also lead you towards Christian melodic power metallers, The Waymaker.
Formed in the summer of 2019 by Christian Rivel-Liljegren and Jani Stefanović [Guitars, Bass, Keyboards, Vocals] (who were both also involved in Divinefire), The Waymaker delivers wonderfully bombastic Scandinavian melodic metal. The band, completed by vocalist Katja Stefanović, offers a blend of powerful male and female vocals, together with epic guitar playing, while delivering a message of heavenly hope in a chaotic world where it’s difficult to find peace.
And this is exactly what you get with the debut, self-titled album. Released in September via Melodic Passion Records, “The Waymaker” offers nine chapters of epic melodic power metal across forty minutes and 45 seconds.
Album opener, “The Waymaker”, starts slowly then launches into a sequence of heavy, punishing riffs, before the powerful vocals enter. As the song drives forward, the beautiful sounds of Katja’s vocals join proceedings, adding an entirely new element to the music, as she fits in perfectly with Christian and Jani’s powerful style.
If you thought the opening number was good, “Kingdom Of Heaven” takes the music to another level! Driven by wonderfully melodic guitars and a pummeling rhythm, “Kingdom Of Heaven” is a marvelous piece, but the soaring vocal sections from Katja push it to another level and literally make the heart leap. Meanwhile, “Soldiers Under Command” is a battle cry of heavy metal proportions, and contains some superb shredding guitar solos, as The Waymaker leads you through its five minutes length. “Marching On” offers exactly the same, leaving you with no respite from the heaviness, yet your heart and soul will leap at the lyrical themes coming through the headphones.
The longest number in this collection is the amazingly beautiful instrumental, “Prophet’s Son”, which sits smack in the middle of the album. With some truly excellent instrument-play, the band enables you to rest and reflect, as you’re led towards “The Name Above All Names”. Launching straight at you with a flurry of heavy riffs, “The Name Above All Names” is almost as powerful as our Lord Jesus Christ, yet it’s message says all you need to know!
“The Rain Of Your Love” arrives in style with some beautiful guitar-licks, before a change of tempo occurs, as this wonderfully powerful ballad drives along its path. After four-and-a-half minutes of sheer beauty, the tempo is turned back up for the penultimate number, “I Am Sustained”, which struts along powerfully. The album finishes in style with the excellent “See The New Generation”, which is a delight to the ears.
Overall, “The Waymaker” sees The Waymaker band deliver a delightful collection of epic melodic power metal, which any fan of the genre must hear. The fact that the music contained within delivers a powerful and wonderful message is an added bonus, which makes this a masterpiece and a contender for album of the year. An essential purchase!
TRACKLIST
- The Waymaker
- Kingdom Of Heaven
- Soldiers Under Command
- Marching On
- Prophet’s Son (Instrumental)
- The Name Above All Names
- The Rain Of Your Love
- I Am Sustained
- See The New Generation
RATING: 10/10
