Skyclad — A Burnt Offering for the Bone Idol

Skyclad have been around for 27 years and for no good reason I’ve largely ignored their output, so the release of these new reissues provides me with an opportunity to see what I’ve been missing all these years. Originally formed from the ashes of English thrash metal legends Sabbat by Martin Walkyier and guitarist Steve Ramsey formerly of Satan and Pariah, Skyclad were one of the pioneers of folk metal, long before it became a popular subgenre of metal. The band have released a respectable 13 studio albums during their lifetime thus far. Walkyier left the band in 2000 and went on to form Clan Destined, whilst Ramsey has remained the driving force behind Skyclad. A new album Forward to the Past was released in April of this year and highlights the fact that there are no signs of the band stopping any time soon. This seems like the perfect time for the reissue of some of their classic material.

A Burnt Offering for the Bone Idol was the band’s second album, originally released in 1992, and features the vocal talents of Martin Walkyier.  Opening track War and Disorder is a short acoustic intro track, featuring some lovely acoustic guitar which eventually submits to samples of gunfire and war time speeches. A Broken Promised Land gets the album underway proper, a solid slice of uptempo metal with just a hint of the band’s folky side that comes largely in the form of some jaunty keyboards. Walkyier’s raspy voice works perfectly on the heavier material, and as the track breaks down, albeit briefly into more folky material in the middle section his clean singing voice provides the perfect accompaniment. Spinning Jenny has a very real folk feel to it from the very first riff, this is the wellspring from which bands like Turisas, Korpiklaani and Finntroll have been drinking over the last decade or so. Spinning Jenny sounds every bit as current as those bands, and is certainly good enough to rival any of those bands at their best. In the album’s more metallic moments one can’t help but hear Walkyier’s former band Sabbat. This is certainly not a bad thing as it prevents the album from descending into twee-ness. Salt of the Earth (Another Man’s Poison) has a decidedly middle eastern vibe to it, coupled with galloping riffs and Walkyier’s powerful voice this track is placed firmly on the heavier end of the band’s spectrum.  Karmageddon (The Suffering Silence) is up next and after a pretty acoustic intro, we are treated to a blast of symphonic folk metal, featuring some lovely lead guitar work. This is more of the same folk tinged metal, but that’s not a bad thing. The key is to imagine what it must have been like hearing this in the days before the folk metal scene exploded, how revolutionary it must have sounded in the pre-Finntroll era?

Ring Stone Round is a short but beautiful acoustic track that deals with ancient ley lines, and the power of tradition, the English countryside is at the very heart of this slice of Folk Horror. Men of Straw has a decidedly Eastern European flavour to its opening riff, however the track bounces along on a groove all its own. The bass playing is superb and when the track breaks down into an acoustic phase we are treated to some excellent guitar work. R’Vannith is up next, and after a brief folky opening it heads into more traditional metal territory for the verses. A folk style breakdown in the second half of the track fits perfectly and provides an interesting juxtaposition between the two musical styles battling for control. The Declaration of Indifference is another great track drawing heavily from the heavier end of the spectrum. Final track Alone in the Death’s Shadow, has a beautiful flute solo mid song, something completely unthinkable in the metal scene at that time.

Overall the album is fantastic, the songs work beautifully blending styles and setting the benchmark for other bands to follow in the 00s and beyond. To say they were ahead of their time is an understatement, and I for one am glad of the opportunity these reissues have given me to finally engage with a band who helped to change the metal scene forever, encouraging a cross pollination of ideas with the folk scene and paving the way for Finntroll, Korpiklaani, and whole host of other bands to take up a new and exciting brand of metal.