Customer Reviews

The Arcanum

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Thank God for Dark Tranquillity and insane nack of writing stratospheric leads. Thank God for In Flames and their ownage of epic major scale melodies. Thank God for Blind Guardian and their flirtation between medieval folk music and balls to the walls power metal. Thank God for Thin Lizzy's blending of traditional Irish melodies and rock n roll. Coz without these legends, Suidakra might not sound as awesome as they do...

The german band had shown a lot of potential with Auld Lang Syne and the great Lays from Afar proved them to be a force to be reckoned with. But it wasn't until The Arcanum landed that Arkadius, Marcel and co proved themselves a truly world class band. Gone for the most part, save the vocals, are the black metal influences of yore. Taking their place we find muscular swathes of bone crushing heavy metal/thrash (giving more then a tip of the cap to legends Blind Guardian) and hauntingly beautiful slabs of classic Gothenburg style death, combined with the bands trademark celtic melodies and subtle acoutic intermezzos. And the result is astounding. Never before and never again, with the exception of Signs of the Fallen, would Suidakra play this fast, this intense or this complex. I could pick out individual songs, but it wouldn't really help as every one is incrediable. While not the heaviest band ever, they play with such unrelenting energy and fury that puts many other bands to shame. All the songs are pretty complex, with some interesting time changes (thanks mainly to the great drumming) and the riffs are just out of this world. Yet peppered through the songs are these lovely, folk interludes and breaks that give the listener a chance to chatch his/her breathe before plunging back into the furious metal assault. And to top it all off i love the production; the perfect middle ground between being to produced and too raw. I wouldn't have minded a little less reverb on the vocals, but it is no cause of complaint.

The Arcanum is a classic album and probably Suidakra's best. Get it and Signs for the Fallen and rock out like there is no tomorrow.

p.s. if you like this i strongly recommend you check our 'A Pagan Storm' by Wolfchant.