Skyclad — A Bellyful of Emptiness - The Very Best of the No
The band was formed in the 1990 in northern English city of Newcastle upon Tyne. The founding members been singer Martin Walkyier( formally of folk and dark fantasy tinged Nottingham thrashers Sabbat) and guitarists Steve Ramsey(of proto-thrash/speed metal/ NWOBHM bands Satan / Pariah)- the pair wanted to form the 'ultimate pagan metal band'. The originally line-up was rounded up by bass player Graeme English( also ex Pariah), and drummer Keith Baxter(who later went onto play with Therapy? & 3 Colours Red).
The bands first album appeared in October of 1991 on respected metal/ trash label noise, and was entitled The Wayward Sons of Mother Earth. The album featured ten tracks, and saw an original blend of trash, metal, and most importantly folk. The album is seen as one of the key/ corner stones of Folk metal genre; though it’s million miles away from the more gimmicky/ tacky ‘folk metal’ that has appeared- it also only hinted at folk metal label, lightly mixing in the folk elements( like subtle fiddle, keyboards, piccolo elements) into what is still very much a metal/ trash album.
I can still recall been eager to hearing the bands debut back in the 1990’s, as I had been a big of Walkyier’s previous band Sabbat, and in particular their second album Dreamweaver-which saw subtle folk and dark fantasy elements, blended with break-neck complex trash riffing and rapid-fire mad hermit ranting singing. When I finally heard The Wayward Sons of Mother Earth- it’s fair to say I didn’t like it much- you see during this period of time I was a very closed thrash/extreme metal fan, and even the subtle embellishments of folk, and a more trad metal sound to the album was total abhorrent to me. So as a result I never heard any more Skyclad, until years later, when I was more open to experimentation in my metal.
This two disc set features the cream of bands output between the years 1990- 1995, when Walkyier was still the lead singer/ key mind behind the band. The albums taken in here are: 1991’s The Wayward Sons of Mother Earth, 1992’s A Burnt Offering for the Bone Idol, 1993’s Jonah's Ark, 1994’s Prince of the Poverty Line, 1995’s The Silent Whales of Lunar Sea, as well a few rare/live tracks. In all the two discs take in 33 tracks, with a total running time of just shy of two & a half hours. The compilation follows the bands sound from it’s trash/ traditional metal bound origins, though to a more formal metal/ folk sound, which was ebbed with other genre edges such folk/rock, classic rock, pop –rock, buoyant prog, world music elements, with even a smattering of electrinoic beats & synth appearing from time-to-time. Added to this original musical blend you get Walkyier’s wordy, clever, & at times quite witty social commentary lyrics- all delivered in his often rapid & highly distinctive vocal style.
The release comes in a double digipak, and this features a 16 page inlay booklet- which takes a new nine page write-up about the band from respected metal writer Malcolm Dome. As well as band pictures/ track listings/ etc. All in all this is a great, balanced & rewarding compilation of this most distinctive & original of British metal bands- they really don’t make them like this anymore!.