Suidakra – Book Of Dowth (2011)The permanent leader of the band, Arkadius Antonik, is doing quite well after the final departure of his long-time guitarist and clean singer, Marcel Schoenen, taking control over almost all studio vocal performance and guitar duties. And so the celtic journey of German export SuidAkrA continues with this year marking its tenth chapter. Named Book Of Dowth, this album tells a story which sets off with an ancient book being discovered at Dowth, one of the passage tombs of the Brú na Bóinne, and tells about the legendary Fomoire demigod race, dark forces of chaos and underworld in Irish myths.
This is already the second record after Caledonia, the ultimate work with Marcel, and it basically follows the pattern established and worked out on the previous one, only on quite a darker tone and with a serious dose of aggression thrown in. Gone are the cheerful, notable bagpipes hovering over crunchy riffs and raising the melodic banner high, this burden is now laid over guitar leads and they do a good job as the replacement. The mixing is also done in a different way, pushing the rhythm guitar and harshes to the front and making most of the melodic parts not-so-distinguishable, so don’t be afraid if first several spins will sound somewhat like a guitar mess, further listening will surely unveil many little yet brilliant bits hidden in the background.
The songs with catchy and well-thought solo playing are in plenty, varying from shorter action things like Battle-Cairns or Dowth 2059 to Balor, The Dark Mound or Fury Fomoraigh, which ends with a bewitching violin outro, all leaning towards more epic nature. The habitual acoustic passages are in abundance as well, being included not only into intro and outro instrumental tunes but also as breaks in many songs. Of course there’s an entirely acoustic composition, Mag Mell, which could have been Ár Nasc Fola’s descendant if not had come with a wonderful, heartfelt male clean chanting this time. Male cleans are also utilized in Stone Of The Seven Suns amazing chorus which alone makes the song a killer. And succeeding Feats Of War is Biróg's Oath, introducing female vocals once again, which even give the song something of Cruachan feeling.
Arkadius found his own brand new way for the band and this way, despite not being much similar to near-perfect Signs for the Fallen or to modern-sounding Command to Charge or even to magnificent Caledonia is still by no means less SuidAkr-ish. Preserving the unique style he inserts it within a new frame, which is maybe not exploring whole new horizons but delivers exactly what the fans of the band are waiting for — melodic, pushful music with a strong folklore roots capable of taking the listener on an epic and captivating voyage into Celtic history and mythology.
