Suidakra ‎"Emprise To Avalon" CD

There is a murky period in British history between the withdraw of the Roman Empire and the eventual reign of the Saxons, a time where historical accounts exist, but are often painted over with a grand mythos of heroic deeds and mystical events. This was a ripe period for the legend that became Merlin and King Arthur, and such subjects themselves are fair game for any ambitious metal band with a desire to go beyond the mundane topics of popular music. But Suidakra has taken an even more ambitious route than the typical paraphrase of the medieval fantasy of these characters, instead focusing on the actual historical types depicted in Taliesin’s poetry with their auspicious and oddly little discussed 5th album “Emprise To Avalon”.
Thus far, this German outfit with an obvious fetish for Celtic lore has been on a steady uptrend from humble, melodic black metal origins somewhat derivative of the prime movers in the 2nd wave, to an original niche within the emergent folk craze of the late 90s and early 2000s. But this album takes the existing character established on “Lays From Afar” and “The Arcanum” and distills them further still, putting a heavy emphasis on bouncy, memorable folk tunes, to the point that the bard inspired lyrics are accompanied by a company of professional folk dancers in medieval attire. Comparisons have sometimes been thrown to a couple key players in the melodeath scene (such as Children Of Bodom and In Flames), but the generally mid-tempo character of the music and the simpler riff set points to something closer to what Bathory was playing around with during the since unfinished “Nordland” series.
The same epic, yet intricate formula that can be traced back to Manowar just oozes from every single musical passage. For instance, the simplistic, percussive intro that kicks off “Darkane Times” isn’t that far of a stretch from the solid, bare bones simplicity that typified “Sign Of The Hammer”, including the thick though fairly humble bass presence. Naturally the dueling death barks and tuneful folk choruses are more a convention of later practices that neither Manowar or Bathory really bothered with even when the 2000s rolled in, and the occasional blast beats and melodic tremolo riffs marched out on “Pendragon’s Fall” and “Still The Pipes Are Calling” were also not really in line with the more archaic, 80s heavy metal paradigm that said founding fathers of this style were adherents too. But by the same token, the strong influence of older metal trappings typical to the heyday of big hair is very much on display in Suidakra’s approach, alongside the subtle nods to the early 90s Gothenburg and Norwegian scenes.
Along with “The Arcanum”, this is a pretty good place to start with for those looking to discover the distinctive world that Suidakra lives in, one that seems to have a difficult time catching on in comparison to several of their competitors. On the upside, it seems that the lack of rabid fanfare that typifies Ensiferum and Elvenking has inspired more of a blue collar work ethic in Arkadius and company, as their studio output has been about as consistent and grueling as Black Sabbath’s from 1970 to 1995. There was an obvious mystique to the era of Celtic kings that coexisted with the triumphs of Rome, and those who revel in such things will find a welcoming campfire and minstrel here to set the soundtrack.

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