Suidakra - Book Of Dowth review
| Band: | Suidakra |
| Album: | Book Of Dowth |
| Style: | Melodic death metal, Folk metal |
| Release date: | March 25, 2011 |
| A review by: | Dream Taster |
01. Over Nine Waves
02. Dowth 2059
03. Battle-Cairns
04. Biróg's Oath
05. Mag Mell
06. The Dark Mound
07. Balor
08. Stone Of The Seven Suns
09. Fury Fomoraigh
10. Otherworlds Collide
11. Rise Of Taliesin [classical re-arranged version] [Digipak bonus]
12. When Eternity Echoes [classical re-arranged version] [Digipak bonus]
+ Dowth 2059 [video] [Digipak bonus]
Some bands play violins near a frozen fjord and call it Folk Metal. Some bands get drunk in a sauna and record Polka songs and call it Folk Metal [you know who you are]. Not so with the German metallers of Suidakra. What you get is breakneck Melodic Death drenched in Folk influences and the tradition continues with Book Of Dowth. Logical successor to 2006's Caledonia and 2009's Crógacht, this album might finally crown the band with glory.
The folk cloak is always there to wrap a tight rhythm section while the driving force behind the music is as always their killer guitar riffs and head banging melodies. Front man Arkadius Antonik once more handles all kinds of vocals with brio from clean to growls.
What makes this record exceptional in my view is the order of the tracks. The killer intro blends in with the juggernaut "single". The calm interludes and semi-ballad only reinforce the strength of the album, which is something few bands have achieved over the years. However, the real genius fact is that the album seems to keep building with the last two songs - if you exclude the outro - being the true killer tracks.
The digipack edition also allows listeners to rediscover some of their previous work as it includes classical re-arranged versions of "Rise Of Taliesin" [originally from 2000's The Arcanum] and "When Eternity Echoes" [from 2003's Sign For The Fallen].
Another year goes by, another killer Suidakra offering to enjoy. Book Of Dowth continues the trend without repeating its predecessors, a testament to their ingenuity. A very solid, uniform monolith of Folk influenced Melodic Death Metal to feast on. Let's bring out the bagpipes and celebrate in unison.
Rating breakdown
| Performance: | 8 |
| Songwriting: | 8 |
| Originality: | 7 |
| Production: | 9 |
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Written on 12.05.2011 by
Bringing you reviews of quality music and interesting questions such as: "A picture is worth a thousand words. How many words is a song worth?" I have only got so much patience and skills, you do the math. |
Comments
Comments: 14
Visited by: 378 users
| bluemobiusx Account deleted |
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| VloRD Posts: 113  |
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| sordid Posts: 71  |
Written by [user id=20536] on 12.05.2011 at 02:43 check out crógacht. it's different from caledonia,and in my view,way better. this new one i hadn't listen carefully yet.
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| Vikcen Metálico Posts: 971  |
Nice review... i ordered the digipack edition 3 days ago, waiting to listen it with all the glory that deserve this album hehe =) (discovered thanks to MetalStorm again)
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| flamey Posts: 109  |
Suidakra is one of those bands where you know they're not gonna try anything groundbreaking, but rather will stick to their sound yet still put out enjoyable albums. This one wasn't exception. Love the acoustic parts too.
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| Susan Smeghead Elite Posts: 6941  |
Thanks for reviewing this DT! Excellent album, really reaffirmed my faith in this great band. So right about the first paragraph. They don't just play some gimmicky version of folk metal and call it a day. WHO is the female vocalist on Birog's Oath? She is fabulous and versatile, fits the music perfectly, and totally stole the show for me 
---- "A life all mine Is what I choose At the end of my days" --The Gathering "A Life All Mine" from Souvenirs
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| Troy Killjoy perfunctionist Staff Posts: 21306  |
Written by Susan on 12.05.2011 at 18:11 Tina Stabel
---- "Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools because they have to say something."
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| Enemy of Reality Account deleted |
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| Dark Blood The Avenger Posts: 1435  |
Honestly I never got into these guys that much, I only heard a few songs. But what I heard from this album on their Myspace page + this review makes me want to know more of them. Really interesting stuff.
---- It is humanity who must pay homage to the greatness of the Universe... not the Universe to the human narcissism. 
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| Until the End Posts: 143  |
'Battle-Cairns', 'The Dark Mound', 'Balor' and 'Fury Fomoraigh' are all great tracks with the latter being my favourite song on the album. Didn't really care much for the female vocal or clean vocal tracks stuck in the middle.
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| tirim4 Posts: 63  |
I really could like Folk Metal if it wasn't so cheesy. Eluveitie is the one Folk Metal band that I have found that stood out a little from the typical cheesy fiddles and flutes and happy hobit metal most folk metal is. This album however, while it still has a little of that, is actually quite good. There are some really good moments and just a few of the hobit metal ones.
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| ensiferumlism Posts: 4  |
I dont hear them for a long time. I think i should come back with them ! tks for awesome reviews.
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| Daydream Nation Account deleted |
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| WorpeX Made of Metal Posts: 1353  |
This album is fantastic! I keep finding myself listening to this album even after having it for over a year now. LOVE IT!
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