Skyclad - A Semblance of Normality

I've written this review for a friend's website. To fit his sites format, I need to add a few pictures and sound clips but before I can be bothered dto do that, I'd see what you guys thought of the important part; the text. Just for the record, the website has very little, if anything, to do with metal, hence it's somewhat "educative" tone at points. Anyhoo;


Folk metal. I kid you not, it’s actually a musical genre. I know, I was shocked too. But once I discovered it, I became lost in a world of accordions, beer, fiddles, beer, Finnish men singing like trolls in Swedish and more beer. A lot of the genre seems to be a good variety of different metal subgenres (traditional, thrash, power, thrash, death, black, fluorescent pink) mixed with somewhat humppa (think of a fat Finnish guy jumping around with an accordion – he’ll probably be playing some hummpa music) melodies. However, upon looking into this uniquely awesome musical movement further, I discovered a ‘folk-metal’ band a bit closer to home called Skyclad, from good old Blighty.

First, a brief history lesson in North England metal. Skyclad are pioneers of folk metal (the kind of music you can jig and headbang to), formed from the remnants of classic Nottingham thrashers, Sabbat (Sabbat were very angry young men – in fact, studies have shown that small animals, when exposed to Sabbat’s music, explode; it’s just that intense) some time in 1990. What these two bands have in common is their singer and lyricist, Martin Walkyier. Or at least, they did have this in common until a few years ago when Martin left, leaving guitarist and producer Kevin Ridley to take the vocal helm, arguably making the band slightly more folk-tacular. A Semblance of Normality is their most recent album from 2004, the first album of new material created after Walkyier’s departure and let’s put it like this; if you like classic rock/metal and having a bit of folk dance, this album is perfect for you.

Semblance starts off with a suitably titled track called Intro (innovative and original title, I know) before kicking into a rightfully epic opening song called Do They Mean Us?, which sees the band collaborating with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (as they do on several tracks). One of the first things that jumped out at me when listening to this album was Skyclad’s singer, Kevin Ridley. His clean and clearly Northern accented voice seems to just really add that sort of pub-music edge. Coupled with the fairly heavy riffs of the song, it may sound a strange combination but it actually works deceivingly well.

A strong beginning is supplemented by the following track, but it’s not until the third song proper that things start to get just a little bit awesome. Now, I don’t know about you readers, but sometimes nothing hits the spot like a little folk music. You know, you drink a little beer, you do a little jig and you drunkenly sing along. And what better song to do such Britishly decadent actions to than Anotherdrinkingsong (the title alone seems to evoke images of a Friday night out – slurring words together in an attempt to look sober just before that all important tactical chunder of the evening). However, Anotherdrinkingsong’s climax is literally the greatest segment of a song ever. It basically boils down to a bunch of drunk guys going ‘fa-la-la-la-la-la’ at an increasingly fast rate before guitarist Steve Ramsey pretty much just orgasms a guitar solo. I’m not kidding you, it actually justifies me being that graphic.

From here, things continue at a high level. The tracks A Survival Campaign and The Song of No-Involvement seem to perfectly blend traditional metal and folk music; Campaign’s chorus shows just how well fiddles and guitars work together – and it is a glorious combination. No-Involvement’s self-deprecating, apathetically delivered lyrics mixed with the jolly riffs will have you swaying slightly from left to right as you listen. Well, it had me throwing my chair to the ground and doing a bit of a hop right there and then, but I’m hoping those reading this aren’t quite as odd as myself. The next track, Parliament of Fools continues the same fiddle-guitar shenanigans and sing along choruses that have made the previous two tracks so good and does nothing to let the listener down.

The last few songs, whilst all great songs, don’t seem to tickle my fancy quite as much Anotherdrinkingsong to The Parliament of Fools. Ten Little Kingdoms sees things speeding up significantly and along with it, things become a little more aggressive and metallic. In fact, this song doesn’t strike me as folky at all bar the lyrical theme of England’s development and a few vocal melodies. Things continue strongly although a bit less merrily, with A Ballad for the Disenchanted bringing in some nice bongo drumming amidst the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (sounds odd, but it actually works quite well). By this point of the album, the pub drinking shenanigans are sobering up, resulting in some fairly bitter and melancholy songery. Lightening the Load sees things getting a bit more energetic again, with a good jiving moment in the chorus, which is always a welcome addition to any song. A defeatist attitude engulfs the lyrics of the song, with the chorus declaring “You can’t make light of this load”. Great solo on this song, very tasty. Like a pint of Brains. The following song, NTRWB, is a catchy but pales in comparison to its successor. Hybrid Blues, the last song proper (there’s a track titled Outro, but like Intro, it’s not really a song, is it?), is a fairly epic ordeal. Very brooding, and showcases some powerful vocals towards the end – in fact, the vocals reek of Meatloaf (the musician, not the weird food product) with their somewhat epic sense of aggression. Then we get the Outro, and have finished our little 47 minute excursion in to the world of English folk metal.

Basically, this album is a night out. It starts off enthusiastically, then about half way through the night things reach their peak. There’s lots of singing along and jigging about and general merriment, maybe a tactical chunder or two and then some more singing along. Then there’s the fleeting moment of aggression when you smash your beer bottle in half and nearly stab someone. Then as you sober up, you begin to become bitter and start to resent yourself and everyone around you before concluding that your trip out was actually bollocks and decide to vent your rage by shouting at the television whilst spitting Chinese take-away everywhere. There’s a moment of quiet reflection and then you hit the hay. However, unlike your sham of a social life, this album is actually a very enjoyable listen. Whilst my personal favourite tracks are the more upbeat-yet-somehow-self-deprecating tracks like The Song of No-Involvement, the album stays strong throughout, and ends on a very high note with Hybrid Blues. It’s an album that’s definitely worth looking in to if you enjoy light hearted rock/metal with a dash of folk. Whilst it sounds like a terrible combination, rest assured it’ll be better than your hangover on Saturday morning.


Opinions would be great. Cheers.

Folk-metal is an oxy-moron. Ya know what I'm saying Tiny-Giant?

Smindas wrote:

Basically, this album is a night out. It starts off enthusiastically, then about half way through the night things reach their peak. There’s lots of singing along and jigging about and general merriment, maybe a tactical chunder or two and then some more singing along. Then there’s the fleeting moment of aggression when you smash your beer bottle in half and nearly stab someone. Then as you sober up, you begin to become bitter and start to resent yourself and everyone around you before concluding that your trip out was actually bollocks and decide to vent your rage by shouting at the television whilst spitting Chinese take-away everywhere. There’s a moment of quiet reflection and then you hit the hay. However, unlike your sham of a social life, this album is actually a very enjoyable listen. Whilst my personal favourite tracks are the more upbeat-yet-somehow-self-deprecating tracks like The Song of No-Involvement, the album stays strong throughout, and ends on a very high note with Hybrid Blues. It’s an album that’s definitely worth looking in to if you enjoy light hearted rock/metal with a dash of folk. Whilst it sounds like a terrible combination, rest assured it’ll be better than your hangover on Saturday morning.

I missed this the first time around, but that was an awesome closing! Hahaha.

Haha, cheers. If anyone feels like checking out the version with sound clips and pictures, it should be here; http://hooplanet.co.uk/article.php?subaction=showfull&id=1185669178&archive=&start_from=&ucat=10&

SAXON1500 wrote:

Folk-metal is an oxy-moron. Ya know what I'm saying Tiny-Giant?

Why is it an oxymoron? It's a mix of folk music and metal music. Search for 'Inequality Street' on youtube.

It's an oxymoron by definition, that's why.

It may be an oxymoron but it's also a viable musical genre that seems to be burgeoning of late.

Skyclad, Korpiklaani, Falkenbach, Wolfstone, Kiuas, Turisas, Elvenking, Wuthering Heights, etc, etc. And if you expand the genre to include the punk bands with folk/Celtic leanings, there are a dozen more.

Dropkick Murphys, Real McKenzies, Flogging Molly, The Pogues and on and on...

True, but a lot of mixed genres are oxymorons. Melodic power metal. Oh yeah? Haha.

Nah,

a true oxymoron is melodic death metal. Huh? The vox are nothing but screams and growls. This is melodic how?

Let's just agree that the merging of genres can have fantastic results, in both folk metal and melodeath.

tohostudios wrote:

Nah,

a true oxymoron is melodic death metal. Huh? The vox are nothing but screams and growls. This is melodic how?

Because they use lots of melodic guitarlines and, quite often, keyboard sections.