Skyclad

A rare breed of folk, that best describes Skyclad. Former Sabbat (UK) vocalist Martin Walkyier founded this thrash metal crossover act that would become one of the first in the folk metal genre in 1990 when he left the former outfit over an argument with guitarist Andy Sneap as to the direction of the music, and teamed up with Steve Ramsey (ex-Pariah/ex-Satan/ex-Blind Fury; guitar/backing vocals). When Graeme English ((ex-Pariah (UK), Satan, Blind Fury); bass/backing vocals) and Keith Baxter (drums) joined on, the set was completed and they soon after signed onto the European indie label 'Noise'. But Skyclad was an act who has boasted many line-up changes over the past decade so hindsight wrote that the cozy friendship wasn't to last.

The debut, Wayward Sons of Mother Earth (1991), united pagan lyrics, the electric violins of Fritha Jenkins, (who joined after Skyclad's tour with Overkill) with a thrash metal beat that offered a nice alternative to the rule of the day. The follow-up albums with Dave Pugh (guitar), A Burnt Offering For The Bone Idol (1992), Tracks From The Wilderness EP (1992), Jonah's Arc (1993), Thinking Allowed EP (1993) and Prince of the Poverty Line (1994) fell in-line with their basic construct but focused more on the folk then the thrash. This plan, however, proved to serve no purpose other then to alienate their original fans.

The late 1990s saw Skyclad receive plenty of college airplay with The Silent Whales of Lunar Sea (1995) featuring Catherine Howell taking over on violin, to be followed-up quickly by the Irrational Anthems (1996) release and Paul Smith taking over drums. After the Old Rope "best of..." compilation (1996), they moved on to the Oui Avant-Garde á Chance (1996) to enlist a new violinist by the name of George Biddle, and use session drummer drummer Paul Atkinson. Due to thre lack of violinist and drummer, the act was unable to perform live with the exception of a few shows, specifically replacing Tiamat on the