Suidakra - Eternal Defiance

Published May 13 2013

*=Staff's pick	Storming The Walls Inner Sanctum* Beneath The Red Eagle March Of Conquest Pair Dadeni The Mindsong Rage For Revenge* Dragon's Head* Defiant Dreams Damnatio Memoriae Mrs. McGrath (bonus track)

Genre	Folk Metal	A. Antonik/Tina Stabel	Vocals
Tracks	11	Arkadius Antonik	Guitar
Running time	51 Min.	Marius "Jussi" Pesch	Guitar
Label	AFM Records	Tim Siebrecht	Bass
Release	25 May 2013	Lars Wehner	Drums
Country	Germany	Arkadius Antonik	Keyboard
Producer	Martin Buchwalter
Similar artists	---

Originally labeled as Celtic metal, but what the hell does that tell you? I would call this folk metal every day of the week. Suidakra released their debut in 1997, still Eternal Defiance is the first one I'm really listening to with full attention. I remember that I watched a set at Wacken Open Air once and thought it was pretty good actually. I however soon forgot all about them, but when the opportunity opened for an album review, I saw a chance to check them out properly.

This album has most element of folk metal including a few croaking birds and a medieval touch with occasional horns, flutes and liras, computerized naturally. Almost all through, it's at the edge to melodic death metal or just heavy and crushing, backed by distinct heavy riffs and a thunderous drum play, and with a powerful production on top. The harmony guitar has striking melodies and its importance for this release can't be ignored, as its significance creates a push forward with an aptly flow. Not groundbreaking, although cool.

With Arkadius' raw voice and with female vocalist Tina Stabel, we get some variety in the songs in an ordinarily confined space of metal. Tina gets a fairly large room with appearances in many of the songs and furthermore she sings the ballad The Mindsong all by herself.

Inner Sanctum and Dragon's Head are killer and we also get a cool version of the Irish traditional folk song, Mrs. McGrath as bonus track. Most songs have a vigorous drive full of energy, although I can't say that every minute of this release crush. Yet it is a strong album and I know that I must now check out their past work as well. Eternal Defiance happens to be their twelfth album, so I now got some solid homework to look forward to. 7 chalices to Suidakra's new release.

See also review of: Crógacht , Command To Charge , Caledonia , Signs For The Fallen

Performance	Originality	Production	Vocals	Songwriting
6	6	7	7	7

Summary
7 chalices of 10 - Tobbe