In 1990 in a pub in Newcastle upon Tyne, England, a few people decided to get together to write a couple of songs. They were thinking about a project in which heavy music would form the base. Wit a ‘riff’ in one hand (and a pint in the other) they sat together, wrote songs and recorded those for their first album. And Folk-metal was born. The input of violin and keys combined with music based on trash metal was unique in those days. A label was found soon and the first album got great response. The press encouraged the band to go on with it and not leave it with only one album of this project and make it a full time band. The purpose was to introduce a new genre with the somewhat conservative metal-fans. With the introduction of an regular violinist the style became even more folk and this would remain the style of the band for 10 years. They were very popular and performed a lot. Unfortunately Fritha left the band in 1993 because she became mother. The band made several albums after this and were very surprised themselves when they discovered they were the most popular metal-band in Greece, after Metallica. The change of violin-player later on was again a fortunate one for Skyclad. But when later on there was a huge gap in the line-up they decided to use session musicians with their live gigs. With ‘Oui Avant Garde A Chance’, the band was won over to expand the acoustic EP to a whole album, but the fans were somewhat disappointed because it was not an electric but an acoustic album. On this album the more mellow folkstyle was used for the first time. After this they experimented more with accordion, bagpipes, whistles, banjo en viola, there was a more prominent role for acoustic guitars and harmonic vocals. The changes in the band and the album which followed on that were absolutely a step in the right direction according to the band. But the press wasn’t that enthusiastic and thought the band was moving away from metal. The Irish Pub Tour was a short tour in pubs in Germany in 1998. This was a good excuse for the Clads to drink a lot and it also brought new insights to the band. They managed to give old songs a new coating in the following tour. In 2000 they released ‘Folkemon’ with a new label, this one was much heavier then the previous one and the band got great reviews on the invention of folk-metal and the influence they had on other bands. In 2001 Martin announced he was going to leave the band. Despite of this the band thought it was a bad idea to quit and kept on going.
EnglandDiscography/Reviews
Albums
The Wayward Sons of Mother Earth (1991)
Tracks from the Wilderness (EP 1992)
A Burnt Offering for the Bone Idol (1992)
Thinking Allowed? (EP 1993)
Jonah’s Ark (1993)
Prince of the Poverty Line (1994)
The Silent Whales of Lunar Sea (1995)
Irrational Anthems (1996)
Oui Avant-Garde a Chance (1996)
Old Rope (Compilation 1997)
The Answer Machine? (1997)
Outrageous fortunes (EP 1998)
Vintage Whine (1999)
Classix Shape (EP 1999)
Folkémon (2000)
Poetic Wisdow (Compilation 2001)
Another Fine Mess (Live 2001)
Swords of a thousand men (single 2001)
History Lessens (Compilation 2002)
No Daylights Nor Heeltaps (Compilation 2002)
Live at the Dynamo (Live 2002)
A Semblance of Normality (2004)
Platinum Edition (2004)
Jig-a-jig (EP 2006)
In the… All Together (2009)
Forward into the Past (2017)
Concerts
Ensiferum Two Paths Tour (2017)