Theigns & Thralls – THEIGNS & THRALLS CD

Theigns & Thralls is the brainchild of SKYCLAD vocalist and songwriter Kevin Ridley. Originally, it was intended to be an ‘occasional band’ to perform songs from Ridley’s back catalogue of songs from Skyclad and his solo album while working around Skyclad’s touring plans. However, when the 2020 global pandemic struck, his plans changed. Being stuck in lockdown, the project became a collaborative recording project building on a few demo ideas. At first, musician friends were contacted to add a bit of violin here and a whistle there. But then things gathered momentum and friends of friends were also asked and players across Europe joined to contribute. The response was, to say the least, overwhelmingly positive and, in the end, twenty-five musicians from bands such as Korpiklaani, Ensiferum, Cruachan, Waylander, Celtibeerian and Metal De Facto as well as solo musicians (new and old acquaintances of Ridley) contributed everything from drums, bass, guitar, violin, whistles, bagpipes to hurdy gurdy and vocals.