Skyclad

I've heard very little by this band but many people have recommended them to me. What's everyone's take on this band?

ult

i only have Wayward Sons & Bone Idol. pretty decent stuff, although these earlier albums were thrashy than their later stuff.

Great stuff if you like some folk in your Metal,
I prefer their earliest albums.

I have Prince Of The Poverty Line - Pretty good stuff all around. Thrashy folk tinged metal. Often angry, sarcastic, and sometimes anti-religion lyrics but nothing to get worked up about.

I have loved what I've heard, but never found an album. Hopefully I'll be scoring a big lot of their stuff soon (nudge, nudge...wink, wink).

Their early albums are pretty much folk-tinged thrash metal (from Wayward Sons Of Mother Earth to around Prince Of The Poverty Line). After that the folk metal sound took over almost exclusively. I really enjoy all of their early albums, not really big on their later stuff.

The Wayward Sons Of Mother Earth could have been the final Sabbat album (it sounded much more like the first two than Mourning Has Broken does (not knocking that album, though, as I do enjoy it)).

Kinda folky, punky, geeky, pagan. But heavy and very catchy. Sometimes I think they influenced certain SOAD songs. Maybe not.

I've heard a few odd (and I DO mean "odd") tracks here and there from this band over the years on compilations and sampler CDs, but never a full album. They're pretty cool, if you can deal with the dorky humor. They're like Monty Python with a metal soundtrack.

They have some brilliant, word-twisting song titles though: my favorite is "Think Back and Lie of England," haha!

can anybody provide a link to some good music by them? I am far too lazy to check 'em out on myspace.

The Youtube video links at http://www.last.fm/music/Skyclad are mainly album covers with songs on, so you can listen to quite a few songs there - the songs on the embedded music player are only the new stuff.

I'm quite a big Skyclad fan, and having recently been able to get my hands on Jonah's Ark and Prince of the Poverty Line, I'm finding it hard to stop listening to them. The music is great, it's unique, it's heavy and catchy and generally melds elements of metal and folk quite nicely (although in varying amounts). A lot of people tend to also mention Skyclad's lyrics and indeed, Martin's tenure in the band seems to be filled with intelligent and witty, if not extremely bitter, lyrics. I think the best way to define Skyclad would be 'pub-metal' - they really give off that miserably British, soused vibe. It's great!

I should be getting the bulk of their discography soon...unless Locky skipped town with my money. =)

That's pretty sweet. I'm struggling to find their CDs anywhere other than eBay, and even then it's a bit scarce. If you happen to have something you're not interested in (which I doubt), give me a bell ;P

Way overrated IMHO.

Smindas wrote:

That's pretty sweet. I'm struggling to find their CDs anywhere other than eBay, and even then it's a bit scarce. If you happen to have something you're not interested in (which I doubt), give me a bell ;P

I have wanted to hear a full CD from this band for years, but I've never once seen a disc around here; not even a really expensive used or import copy. That's always surprised me.

From what I gather, Skyclad have been most succesful in Germany and their albums have been in best circulation there and around Europe. What I find ironic is how nearly every Skyclad CD bar A Semblance of Normality is nigh-on impossible to find in Britain, their homeland. If there ever was a band that embodided Britain, it was Skyclad IMO.

they used to be a great band. they had thrash elements but you could never label them as such(thrash were sabbat, walkier's previous band). after all steve ramsey and graeme english were in the mighty satan. from the olde stuff i love the vinyls of prince of poverty line, a burnt offering for the bone idol. but their greatest was irrational anthems. after that they went more folky and less metal. i saw them 4 times(one in dynamo, 3 in greece). pure metal for poor people with rich metal heart. martin is great lyricist definately.....

Life's really a chocolate box -
some do without - others have plenty.
It sticks in my throat - my stomach's in knots,
while your box is so full - mine's perpetually empty....


....If we'd played this riff more punk,
than may be we'd have had a million seller.
But this piper's tune is not for sale,
(I'm glad to say I'm not that kind of fella).

D.J.s, V.J.s, pimps and trollops,
never mind music - this is bollocks.


...She said to me "Lad, if you'll be a musican,
go out and be one - but one with conviction.
If there's just one lesson the young ought to learn,
it's pay no deposit and get no return.......

So yeah...these guys changed a bit, eh? I'm listening to the debut now and it's pretty thrashy. The latter stuff is almost cute in comparison. I definitely liked what I've heard of the latter stuff so far (History Lessens and Oui Avant-Garde A Chance), but I can see how this band could have pissed some people off. Haha. Great stuff, though.

At least they didn't pull a Pyogenesis! And if no one knows, Pyogenesis was a killer doom death band that went pop-punk. No joke!

Im liking their cover of Thin Lizzy's Emerald!

Eyesore wrote:

So yeah...these guys changed a bit, eh? I'm listening to the debut now and it's pretty thrashy. The latter stuff is almost cute in comparison. I definitely liked what I've heard of the latter stuff so far (History Lessens and Oui Avant-Garde A Chance), but I can see how this band could have pissed some people off. Haha. Great stuff, though.

At least they didn't pull a Pyogenesis! And if no one knows, Pyogenesis was a killer doom death band that went pop-punk. No joke!

I wouldnt compare Skyclad to Pyogenesis. Pyogenesis are crap, Skyclad has progressed and aged very nicely through the years and are one of the very few bands I've been following from the very beginning (since Sabbat actually) and still buy their new albums on a whim. Very few bands get my cash in this manner.

stormspell wrote:

Eyesore wrote:

So yeah...these guys changed a bit, eh? I'm listening to the debut now and it's pretty thrashy. The latter stuff is almost cute in comparison. I definitely liked what I've heard of the latter stuff so far (History Lessens and Oui Avant-Garde A Chance), but I can see how this band could have pissed some people off. Haha. Great stuff, though.

At least they didn't pull a Pyogenesis! And if no one knows, Pyogenesis was a killer doom death band that went pop-punk. No joke!

I wouldnt compare Skyclad to Pyogenesis. Pyogenesis are crap, Skyclad has progressed and aged very nicely through the years and are one of the very few bands I've been following from the very beginning (since Sabbat actually) and still buy their new albums on a whim. Very few bands get my cash in this manner.

No, nothing like Pyogenesis. Skyclad clearly have progressed naturally. The first few Pyogenesis albums are killer, then...Fall Out Boy!

Eyesore wrote:

No, nothing like Pyogenesis. Skyclad clearly have progressed naturally. The first few Pyogenesis albums are killer, then...Fall Out Boy!

I remember watching Headbanger's Ball in 1991-1992 and amonghst all anathema/Paradise Lost/Entombed mania there were several Pyo clips, and yes, later they did make some disco albums, but so did Paradise Lost, and Anathema, so I guess it was a common plague on that genre

stormspell wrote:

Eyesore wrote:

No, nothing like Pyogenesis. Skyclad clearly have progressed naturally. The first few Pyogenesis albums are killer, then...Fall Out Boy!

I remember watching Headbanger's Ball in 1991-1992 and amonghst all anathema/Paradise Lost/Entombed mania there were several Pyo clips, and yes, later they did make some disco albums, but so did Paradise Lost, and Anathema, so I guess it was a common plague on that genre

No way, man. Pyogenesis did nothing like the other bands did. Those bands evolved into something different, but really no stretch of the imagination. With Twinaleblood they sort of went toward that experimental heavy goth metal sound like Paradise Lost (in a poppier manner), but after that they just took a left turn and floored it...





Check that out! Haha. Unbelievable.

k...what Pyogenesis albums are worth getting. I'm liking their sound on the first few songs of that video.

Yeah, I think Skyclad's 'evolved' rather than 'changed'. They tend to flitter back and forth a bit at points. I think Jonah's Ark and Prince of the Poverty Line were pretty much the most transitional albums, and as a result, get that balance between folk and metal perfectly.

Eyesore wrote:

The latter stuff is almost cute in comparison.

I love that line. So yeah, become a writer.