Skyclad

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).

—"Penny Dreadful"

Skyclad is one of the original Folk Metal bands, founded in 1990. Their early albums show strong Thrash Metal influences as well. Their songs tend to be about social and political topics such as poverty, commercialism, urban decay, and environmentalism. While they have had a number of changes in their line-up, arguably the most important was when vocalist Martin Walkyier left in 2001.

Members:

• Steve Ramsey - Guitar since 1990
• Graeme "Bean" English - Bass,acoustic guitar since 1990
• Georgina Biddle - Violin since 1994
• Kevin Ridley - Vocals since 2001, Guitar since 1998, Producer since 1990
• Arron Walton - Drums since 2001

Discography:

• 1991 - The Wayward Sons of Mother Earth
• 1992 - A Burnt Offering for the Bone Idol
• 1993 - Jonah's Ark
• 1994 - Prince of the Poverty Line
• 1995 - The Silent Whales of Lunar Sea
• 1996 - Irrational Anthems
• 1996 - Oui Avant-Garde á Chance
• 1997 - The Answer Machine?
• 1999 - Vintage Whine
• 2000 - Folkémon
• 2004 - A Semblance of Normality
• 2009 - In the... All Together

Skyclad provides examples of the following tropes:

• A Tragedy of Impulsiveness: "You Lost My Memory"
• The Band Minus the Face: After Martin Walkyier left.
• Awesome McCoolname: Martin Walkyier sounds like a name fitting for a vampire hunter.
• Break Up Song: "You Lost My Memory"
• Crapsack World: How Walkyier views the world in most of his songs.
• Getting Crap Past the Radar: A lot. As an example, they have a song called "A Great Blow for a Day Job". Yeah.
  • Not to mention that their name itself is a reference to... nudity.
• Godwin's Law: "Art-Nazi"
• Gullible Lemmings: "The Great Brain Robbery".
• Hurricane of Puns: Many of their songs, e.g. "more tonque in cheek than a French kiss from Judas Iscariot." A lot of their album and song titles as well.
  • "Inequality Street" may have the greatest density of puns.
• Lyrical Dissonance: Arguably their catchiest, most upbeat-sounding song, "Penny Dreadful" is anti-pop music.
  • "A Great Blow for a Day Job" as well: A really catchy and upbeat tune for song that talks about dealing with the Devil...
• Money Song: An anti-money song, "Penny Dreadful."
• Opposites Attract: "You Lost My Memory" again.
• Politically-Correct History: Kicked in "Think Back And Lie Of England".
• Protest Song: Many of their songs, such as "The Truth Famine."
• Rockstar Song: "Penny Dreadful" is an anti-rockstar song.
• Shout-Out: "Folkémon" has a yellow cat in the cover, just in case you weren't completely sure if it was named after Pokémon.
• Space Whale: Just the name, but "Silent Whales of Lunar Sea"
  • Of course, it's also a pun ("Silent Wails of Lunacy").
• Trope Maker: For the whole Folk Metal genre.
• Wicca: Where they got their name.