Vintage Whine

"Vintage Whine" felt like a breath of fresh air when it came out in 1999. I had grown weary of Skyclad's softer direction. Their two previous albums ("Oui Avant-garde á Chance" and "The Answer Machine?") were not my cup of tea at the time, though I have since revised my opinion of both. This album also marked the longest time period between two Skyclad full lengths. There are eighteen months between this one and the last one. "Vintage Whine" has always therefore felt like a comeback album, even though it isn't.

In truth, 'heavy' Skyclad had not sounded good since "Prince of the Poverty Line". Records like "The Silent Whales of Lunar Sea" and "Irrational Anthems" had been sullied by crap guitar tones and inconsistent songs. Straight from the title track you hear the band trying to right those wrongs. This is a steamroller of a tune; one of the heaviest, angriest, moodiest songs they had ever done. Skyclad sound like they have something to prove, as if to show people they could still play metal. Martin Walkyier returns to his aggressive, throaty rasp (a style he had not used for years) and everything sounds crushing. This is a simple song (verse/bridge/chorus, repeat a few times), but nonetheless worthy of a place in the Skyclad canon. The two songs that follow it are up-tempo gems. "On with Their Heads!" is fast and frenetic and "The Silver Cloud's Dark Lining" continues the pace. Both are catchy as hell, with great fiddle playing, guitar solos, and perhaps even some punk influence. Skyclad sound triumphant.

But let's not get ahead of ourselves. The rot begins with "A Well Beside the River", a sludgy, dirty rock song which never gets off the ground. "No Strings Attached" is an earnest acoustic number, lacking the mysterious, ethereal feel of Skyclad's recent ballads. "Bury Me" starts with a menacing opening thrust, but degenerates into a group sing-along and outstays it's welcome. "Cancer of the Heart" is just another bitter rock song that fails to make any headway. The worst song is "Something to Cling To" which sounds like some very boring pub-rock band repeating the same chorus over and over again. The problem with all these songs is that they sound self-conscious. Most of them are attempts at rock anthems with obvious, chanting choruses. This blunt approach does not play to Skyclad's strengths. The breezy, folksy "Little Miss Take" appears near the end and it sounds fantastic among all this drudgery.

The production and the musical performances are good. Everything here sounds heavy, clear and balanced. George Biddle sounds vibrant; her fiddle is much better integrated than it was on "Irrational Anthems" and her piano instrumental coda "By George" is a minor highlight. Ramsey and English sound solid, even if they're not changing the game or pushing anything forward here. The new drummer, Jay Graham, provides a solid backbone but his style sounds more like generic 'metal' than either Keith Baxter or Paul Kinson (i.e., the guy who played on "The Answer Machine?").

Of course, "Vintage Whine" is worth hearing for the first three songs and "Little Miss Take". It has a similar hit/miss rate to "Jonah's Ark", and the worst parts of that album mirror the worst parts of this one. On both, the lighter, faster songs are harder hitting than the rock-orientated songs and ballads. "Vintage Whine" is nowhere near as innovative or interesting as "Jonah's Ark", and therefore cannot be recommended above it, but Skyclad junkies craving a fix will find what they need.