Ελληνικά
Genre: Heavy/Folk Metal
Country: England/U.K.
Label: Hammerheart Records
Year: 2015
Clan Destined is a project by Martin Walkyier (Sabbat, Skyclad) and Iscariah (Dead To This World, Immortal, etc), along with Jay Graham (ex-Skyclad), Lee Cassidy and many guest musicians, created in 2004, with the first two trying to heal their wounds caused by their departures from Skyclad and Immortal respectively. Musically the move between classic heavy metal, enriched with folk tunes and thrashy bits at points; nice keyboards and use of female vocals. The lyrics always written by Martin, ingenious, are a notch above the music which sometimes seems to be trapped in the deliberate use of keys or meaningless symphonic parts.
The album consists mostly of up – tempo compositions with strong guitars and sharp riffings, with the neat output pushing up the final result and the distinctive voice of Martin dominating the sound of Destined Clan. “I Am Because We Are” singles out as optimistic, as well as “TC Lethbridge “as an adaptation to” Dance By The Light Of The Bridges You Burn “of Julian Cope ,written for Thomas Charles Lethbridge.
Note that they recorded this demo in 2004 and broke up before it was finally released self-financed in 2006 with a different cover, with the help of Andy Sneap and James Murphy in production and lead guitars. Walkyier stated then that this would be his last recording and music movement ever. But later, when he collaborated with Sneap for the reactivation of the legendary Hell in 2008, he came close to record again, however, for argument’s sake the last Walkyier’ s recording until now are guest vocals on the cover of Skiltron in Running Wild and “Ballad of William Kidd” for collection “ReUnation – A Tribute to Running Wild” (2009). Walkyier’s eccentric persona and strong personality seems to be the cause of the dissolution of the project in 2005 and the other members’ notice on the matter on April 19, 2005 which seems to illuminate only one side of the moon…
“Due to unprofessional behavior & defamation of character by Martin Walkyier against Iscariah, we, the undersigned members of The Clan Destined have, unanimously and without hesitation, decided to leave the band. Because all The Clan Destined music was written, performed and recorded by us, these tracks will be reclaimed and used in a new band. This new line-up will be announced very shortly. We would like to thank all fans, partners, producers, contributors, friends and forum members of The Clan Destined for their incredible support and patience in waiting for the The Clan Destined release, and guarantee their wait will not have been in vain.”
Now, how did we come to 2015 and the re-release via Hammerheart Records, we don’t have much to say. It is more than enough that this disc of quality music can reach to more and more vast audience in a (relatively) low price. Fans of Martin definitely expect more from him without that meaning that the disc is medium or, let alone, bad. The bar is set always high with Walkyier, nothing you can do about it.
The production seems a click clearer and improved, not to think that there was an issue with the first recording, however it’s better to stress that there is a small (noticeable) improvement.
* Lethbridge was born in 1901 and died in 1971. He was a British explorer, archaeologist and parapsychologist. Lethbridge was a devoted researcher who examined issues, known as “esoteric”, which considered being a scientific approach and promoting theories about ghosts, witchcraft, dowsing, psychokinesis, and even aliens. His book “The Power of the Pendulum” [“The Power of the Pendulum”], is a recorded research in dowsing through pendulum. Lethbridge died while the book was still in draft form.
** Julian Cope (Julian Cope) is a British musician, writer, historian, musicologist, and poet. Born on October 21, 1957 in the province of Deri Mid Glamorgan in Wales. His full name is David Julian Cope. He is mainly known as a singer of post-punk band The Teardrop Explodes, but has recorded several albums as an independent artist. He was a founding member of the bands Queen Elizabeth and Brain Donor. He has also written several books, mostly with musical themes, and his autobiography.
*** The 2008 reissue was released with a bonus disc of a video for “A Beautiful Start to the End of the World”. It was filmed at Bloodstock Open Air in 2006. The line-up at that time was Martin Walkyier and Grim Rita on vocals, Tristessa on bass, Simon Jones and his son Martin, Rowan guitars.
4/6
