When I suggest to Dublin rockers Skyjack that Metal is coming back, bassist Sean just smiles. I don t think it ever went away, he says.
Skyjack can hardly be considered a died-in-the-wool Metal band. The one group that all the members share as an influence are Pink Floyd. While there are similarities between themselves and say, Faith No More or Alice In Chains, you can definitely hear that there s a reflective side to their music.
If you go up close and whisper something, and then scream in someone s face, it has more effect than just screaming in their face, singer David offers. And you can see his point. A formidable live outfit, Skyjack often use the ploy of drawing their audience in with melodic passages, before pummeling them into submission with all-out attack.
The band put this emphasis on melody down to the fact that they are children of the 80s. So were they closet Duran Duran fans?
Why not? says drummer Liam. Guitarist Brian points out that things aren t as regimented in music as was once the case: I think dance changed that. Now when people go to gigs it s everyone there, instead of a bunch of sweaty guys at the front and the girls hanging back.
Indeed, the Skyjack crew seem fairly open to blending musical styles, and express an interest in trying loops and samples. Even now, some of their tracks can be surprising. Under the Water , from their CD Zero Communication, is a case in point. While it does eventually revert to powerchord territory, most of the song comes on more like a trippier Depeche Mode, rather than a Pantera-esque gorefest.
Only 14 months on the go, Skyjack are still more effective live than in the studio. But with an openmindedness that s rare in the testosterone-driven miasma that is metal, they show promise. Asked why he eschews the customary broken glass gargling so popular on the heavier end of the spectrum, instead opting for genuine singing, David replies: I like people to hear melodies, maybe remember a few words or a chorus. If all you hear is unh unh unh , then all you remember is unh unh unh . n