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Skyclad - Prince Of The Poverty Line



8.6 | 151 votes |
Release date: 22 March 1994
Style: Folk metal

Owners:

162 have it
36 want it


01. Civil War Dance
02. Cardboard City
03. Sins Of Emission
04. Land Of The Rising Slum
05. The One Piece Puzzle
06. A Bellyful Of Emptiness
07. A Dog In The Manger
08. Gammadion Seed
09. Womb Of The Worm
10. The Truth Famine

Top 20 albums of 1994: 13

Additional info
Recorded at Lynx Studios (Newcastle).
Mixed at Rockfield Studios (Monmouth).
Engineered by Kevin Ridley.
Produced by Kevin Ridley and Skyclad.
Artwork by Duncan Storr.

Guest review by
Darkside Momo
Rating:
9.6
It's 1994, Skyclad is four years old, and they've already released their fourth album. While the sound on this release evolved from Thrash (Wayward Sons Of Mother Earth) to Folk (Jonah's Ark), "Prince Of The Poverty Line" marks a return to a heavier sound. In fact, it's the heaviest of all Skyclad's albums. Just to set the tone, the album begins with the roar of an angry crowd, and that makes way to the chorus that says "A bloody revolution is the simplest solution to the problems that they've made." Name of this song ? "Civil War Dance."

Read more ››
published 05.12.2006 | Comments (11)

You know what? This album's twenty years old and it's still as relevant as it was when it first came out. So do yourself a favor and check it out - or spin it a few times again!

Darkside Momo's picks | More picks ››
Thumbs up: R'Vannith, Mr. Doctor, Daniell

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Comments

Comments: 14   Visited by: 492 users
24.01.2012 - 01:16
Rating: 9
musicalkaratekid

I cannot emphasise how meaningful this album is to me. From the ferociously heavy starter to the beautifully structured and written 'The Truth Famine', 'POTPL' begs to be heard at least once. If you dislike it still, it's your loss. Fuck arkona, finntroll,turisas, korpiklaani, etc. Skyclad are the real deal.
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24.01.2012 - 02:16
Rating: 10
R'Vannith
ghedengi
Written by musicalkaratekid on 24.01.2012 at 01:16

I cannot emphasise how meaningful this album is to me. From the ferociously heavy starter to the beautifully structured and written 'The Truth Famine', 'POTPL' begs to be heard at least once. If you dislike it still, it's your loss. Fuck arkona, finntroll,turisas, korpiklaani, etc. Skyclad are the real deal.


Amen
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04.06.2014 - 09:02
Darkside Momo
Retired
Written by deadone on 04.06.2014 at 05:31

I just wish someone would reissue it so I could buy it (my old burned copy gave up the ghost years ago).

yeah... Mine got overplayed for sure
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"You must stay drunk on writing so reality cannot destroy you"

"I've lost too many years now
I'm stealing back my soul
I am awake"
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07.09.2014 - 19:12
Rating: 9
BloodTears
ANA-thema
So, I've been listening to this and I'm loving it! Thanks Momo for the recommendation

Favourite songs: Cardboard City, The One Piece Puzzle and Womb Of The Worm. But honestly, I like every song on this album. I'm glad I finally listened to it or I would be missing out.
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Written by BloodTears on 19.08.2011 at 18:29

Like you could kiss my ass.


My Instagram
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23.05.2016 - 18:50
Rating: 9
NocturnalStalker
Metal Addict
Definitely one of the best Skyclad works. A nearly perfect mix of heaviness and melody.
My favourite tracks: Cardboard City, Sins of Emission, Land of the Rising Slum, A Bellyful of Emptiness, Womb of the Worm.
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"And we are not who we think we are
We are who we're afraid to be"
- Lux Occulta "The Opening of Eleventh Sephirah"
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14.05.2017 - 01:17
Rating: 8
Redel

Written by NocturnalStalker on 23.05.2016 at 18:50

Definitely one of the best Skyclad works. A nearly perfect mix of heaviness and melody.

It is indeed.
Just such a pitty that it is heavily front loaded. While I enjoy all first five tracks (in particular The land of the rising slum and One piece puzzle), I cant find much in the second half of the album.
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14.05.2017 - 13:36
Darkside Momo
Retired
Written by Redel on 14.05.2017 at 01:17

Written by NocturnalStalker on 23.05.2016 at 18:50

Definitely one of the best Skyclad works. A nearly perfect mix of heaviness and melody.

It is indeed.
Just such a pitty that it is heavily front loaded. While I enjoy all first five tracks (in particular The land of the rising slum and One piece puzzle), I cant find much in the second half of the album.

What? While I admit that A Dog In The Manger to its time to really sink in, I'd that that the Gammadion Seed - Womb Of The Worm - Truth Famine is really the best POTPL has to offer. The Truth Famine, in particular - this is one hell of a fantastic closer, on par but different from Civil War Dance. The perfect end for a not-so-smooth ride...
----
My Author's Blog (in French)


"You must stay drunk on writing so reality cannot destroy you"

"I've lost too many years now
I'm stealing back my soul
I am awake"
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16.05.2017 - 23:42
Rating: 8
Redel

IMO, A bellyful of emptiness, A dog in the manger, and Gammadion seed are all pretty lame songs. Womb of the worm is a nice one, but not much more. The truth famine is certainly the highlight of the second half, but I still prefer every song from the first half.
Second best Skyclad, after TSWOLS, together with IA.
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15.03.2020 - 05:49
Rating: 9
Necrodamus

Just started listening to Skyclad and so far this one has resonated the most with me. It has the thrashy aggression of the older stuff and folk-tinged melodies of the later stuff, making it a perfect blending of both styles. Highly replayable too.
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06.05.2020 - 21:20
Bad English
Tage Westerlund
This is good album, not as prev. one its beck to roots to heavy sound, not thrash roots, but more heavy metal whit folk metal singing if there is such thing
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apos;'
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I better die, because I never will learn speek english, so I choose dieing
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05.02.2021 - 20:36
Rating: 9
Tom Muller

Heavy masterpiece
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Can you see it
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04.04.2021 - 22:24
Rating: 9
AndyMetalFreak
A Nice Guy
This is a true masterpiece of folk metal. "Cardboard City", "Bellyful Of Emptiness", "The One Piece Puzzle", and "Land of the rising slum" will always remain true classics imo, but it's really hard to pick an actual favourite song, every song has it's meaning and importance.

It's constructed with beautiful melodies and with powerful, meaningful lyrics, that many of us here in the north of England can surly relate to. They manage to portray an accurate image of what it's really like on the wrong side of the poverty line, just listen to the lyrics behind each track and you can clearly understand the albums true intent.

"Dog in a manger", and "Womb of the worm", are the weaker songs here unfortunately, but even them songs aren't necessarily bad by any means, so this didn't effect the album scoring for me.
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29.07.2023 - 18:50
Rating: 9
Druss

Amazing album, "The One Piece Puzzle" is such a powerful song, but the level really never drops off significantly here. Fans of Primordial would fancy this I think
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26.11.2023 - 18:06
Rating: 9
Tom Muller

Fantastic album, def their best
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Can you see it
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