Review by Alain on March 16, 2020.

Suidakra has been since the beginning of its career one of the most underrated band in the scene. To release such a solid efforts as The Arcanum or Emprise to Avalon seems not to be enough to make these musicians being successful and irremediably they have been lost in a sea of anonymity. They can be considered one of the first bands who focused their lyrics on pagan/historic themes and apart from most of the German bands they have always shown a great interest in Celtic tales. This genuine band plays an interesting melodic death metal strongly influenced by Gaelic folk and with an excellent taste for epic melodies. Although their interest in Celtic traditional music is well-known they had never used too much folk instruments in their music, but this aspect changed when they released Caledonia, a work which recovered the best version of this fantastic band.

And now, two years later and when the pagan/folk genre lives its golden age, Suidakra has released an album destined to position the band in the first line, smashing all the mediocre groups, something that Arkadius and the others have always deserved. Crógacht (meaning "bravery" in Irish Gaelic) supposes a giant step forward in their career. It is an amazing mixture of fast-paced death melodic parts, excellent guitar melodies and now, more than ever, the inclusion of real Celtic folk instruments as highland bagpipes or tin whistles. This addition is absolutely awesome and enriches the album greatly, helping to create the adequate atmosphere in the album, which is essential because Crógacht is a conceptual album based on one of the most dramatic tales in the Irish mythology, "The death of Aoife's only son".

The album itself is short (no more than 42 minutes) but extraordinarily fresh, dynamic and majestic. Each song has its own soul and distinctive melody. From the initial and fast 'Canlaoch', the echoing 'Isle of Sky' or the awesome folk beginning of 'Scátchach', with the fantastic bagpipes, the whole album breaths grandeur. This work recovers the fast-old style of the band and maintains the excellent taste for melodies which is great news for the diehard fans. On the other hand, we have peaceful moments with the instrumentals and the beautiful female sung "Feats of War", a delicate and beautiful acoustic composition. Such a brave album could not end with a better song than 'Bailes Strand', oh my god, this song is epic as its best!. From the very beginning with the choir and the sound of swords you know that this song will blow away anyone who listens to it. The guitar riffs and the atmospheric keyboard are touching and absolutely tremendous until the end of the song. This composition must be the sonic definition of what a warrior should felt before a battle, really amazing!.

In conclusion it is quite remarkable to see a band like Suidakra that after so many years making music can finally reach its peak and release an album destinated to be a classic. Congratulations guys you have created a timeless masterpiece!

Rating: 9.6 out of 10