Martin Walkyier

Martin Walkyier (born 20 November 1967[1]) is an English singer known for his bands Sabbat and Skyclad and for his lyrics.[1] Metal Hammer journalist, the late Detlef Dengler, called Walkyier a "great lyricist" known for his multitude of words and "brilliant puns"; yet Walkyier was never asked to write lyrics for other bands, "unfortunately", as he says.[1] Author Paul Stenning has referred to Walkyier as a "lyrical genius".[2]

Martin Walkyier
Birth nameMartin Walkyier
Born (1967-11-20) 20 November 1967[1]
GenresHeavy metal
Folk metal
Thrash metal
Occupation(s)Vocalist, Songwriter
Years active1985–present
Associated actsSkyclad
Sabbat

Biography

Walkyier was born on 20 November 1967 as the only child of Roy and Eve Walkyier. At the age of eight he began to be interested in acting and poetry and started to play guitar. Fascinated by bands like Witchfynde, he formed Hydra with Fraser Craske and later Sabbat. Walkyier quit his job as a truck driver to invest more time in his music although he would have no secure income. He left Sabbat in 1990 and returned with Skyclad, a band that mixed heavy metal with folk music and pioneered folk metal. After the release of ten albums, Walkyier was broke; he later said that "[T]he insight that you can't live on dreaming came too late. Unfair contracts, incompetent advisers, wrong decisions and my naivety almost broke my neck. I ended up feeling like in a marriage not divorced because of the children." Walkyier left Skyclad and started working as a nightwatchman for a furniture store, gave occasional concerts under the name Return to the Sabbat and started the company Prick Tees, which designs and produces T-shirts.[1]

Walkyier helped out Iscariah when the latter moved to England with his family: Walkyier got him a flat and a job for Iscariah's wife. It took two years to organise everything before they could seriously work on Walkyier's new band, The Clan Destined. Walkyier had to help his frail mother and his ill father while The Clan Destined got into the background. According to Walkyier, Iscariah left without telling him why and abandoned him. However, he finished In the Big Ending, but was disillusioned and announced it would be his last musical work, but had promise at his father's deathbed that he would continue. Roy Walkyier died in early 2007. Martin Walkyier structured and arranged the music composed by Iscariah. Andy Sneap wanted to produce the recordings but had to work with Nevermore; James Murphy, a friend of Sneap's, offered Walkyier his help. The final album features a DVD with a video to the song "A Beautiful Start to the End of the World", inspired by the novel Aimée und Jaguar. Although, according to Metal Hammer journalist Detlef Dengler, the video "is professional and looks very expensive", it cost "almost nothing" according to Walkyier, as The Clan Destined consist of Pagans with a common life philosophy: "artists, designers and film makers".[1]

Sabbat reformed in 2006 to play shows.[1] In late 2008, he had finished the recordings for The Clan Destined's debut album and recorded vocals for Hell's debut album; Walkyier has stated that "Hell and especially their singer Dave Halliday were my idols in the early 1980s. My friends all listened to Metallica, but I felt attracted by bands with image and true personality. The theatrics of bands like Hell influenced me tremendously." As Walkyier's friend Andy Sneap also was "a fanatic Hell supporter", they approached the remaining three members after Halliday's suicide and offered to help them out as singer and guitarist and give the old songs a modern production.[1] He also contributed guest vocals for Cradle of Filth and Forgodsake.[1] In 2008 or 2009, Walkyier announced he was working on a rock opera, the story being titled Plugging Hellfire and published in Devolution magazine, illustrated by Neil Sims, and a biography with Paul Stenning's support.[1]

In October 2009, Walkyier announced that he is working upon writing and recording some brand-new material for The Clan Destined.[3]

Discography

With Sabbat
  • Blood for the Blood God EP, 1987
  • Stranger Than Fiction Demo, 1987
  • A Cautionary Tale/And the Brave Man Fails Split, 1988
  • History of a Time to Come Full-length, 1988
  • Dreamweaver Full-length, 1989
  • Wildfire/The Best of Enemies Single, 1989

With Skyclad

With The Clan Destined
  • In the Big Ending Demo 2006

Guest appearances

During Walkyier's career, he has made several guest vocal appearances such as:

  • A verse in the Forgodsake song "Skyhigh" from the Blasthead album (1994)
  • Guest vocals on Cradle of Filth's cover of the Sabbat track "For Those Who Died" on Midian (2000) and on the song "The Snake-Eyed and the Venomous" from the deluxe edition of Thornography (2006)
  • Guest Vocals on Torsohorse song "Face To Face" from 2006 album No Going Back
  • Guest vocals on Skiltron's cover of the Running Wild track "Ballad of William Kidd" from the ReUnation - A Tribute to Running Wild album (2009)
  • Verse on "Female Drugthing" on Pyogenesis' Love Nation Sugarhead EP, Nuclear Blast 1997
  • Guest vocals on Tuatha de Danann's "Rhymes Against Humanity" from their 2015 album Dawn of a New Sun
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References
  1. Detlef Dengler: Martin Walkyier. In: Metal Hammer, February 2009, p. 129.
  2. Thrash Metal: A Seemingly Endless Time, Sabbat & Skyclad Chapters, Pg. 154 by Paul Stenning
  3. BLABBERMOUTH.NET - SABBAT's MARTIN WALKYIER Interviewed, 20 November 2009, accessed on 13 January 2013.
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