Review by Adam M on May 8, 2011.

Suidakra is a band that performs Melodic Death Metal that has an undeniable Folk influences. The two styles of music are combined in almost perfect unison and in a fashion that is seamless. Expect a lot of acoustic guitars and boisterous clean vocals to be melded with the usual recipe for Melodic Death Metal. The use of these types of extra elements is partially what separates them from the many clone bands that plague Melodic Death Metal, but make no mistake there isn’t anything extraordinary to be found here either.

The songs are crafted in a rollicking fashion, but the guitar-work doesn’t go in enough interesting directions to make this truly captivating. There’s a nice break around tracks four and five that throws in some stripped down, vocally-carried songs and that really helps prevent the album from dragging down with similarity as well. But despite enjoyable songs, there is still this feeling that it all starts to feel a bit the same after a while. One of the things I applaud with this band is that they’re able to make very melodic songs that have a deeper impact than what can be often found in the Melodic Death Metal genre. Comparing them to other bands of the style is unfair because the sound comes together in a way that is unique, though it certainly has its influences.

The entire affair maintains a reasonably high quality with 'Stone Of The Seven Suns' being a highlight. As a Melodic Death Metal effort, "Book Of Dowth" is a solid effort and I guarantee you’ll like it even more than I did if you’re a big fan of the genre. There’s plenty of quality song-writing, variety and melodic moments to become enamoured with on the album.

Categorical Rating Breakdown

Musicianship: 7.5
Atmosphere: 7.5
Production: 8.5
Originality: 7
Overall: 7.5

Rating: 7.6 out of 10

Review by Jack on June 25, 2002.

Why do I say a compilation? And by metal alternatives I mean the less common genres of the metal universe; stoner, doom, etc, etc. Anything not from the globalising death and black metal scenes, really. Gilla Bruja combine all the efforts of a mid 90s Sepultura tribal metal influence, with that of grind metal elements, along with sporadic industrial features with classy and cheesy TV samples, and maybe a hint of sludge/stoner rock. Sound good? Well if the truth must be known, I’m still trying to decide what to make of it all.

“Tooth and Nail” is a pretty diverse record and interesting enough to keep a Pakistani inside an Indian strip club. I mean don’t get me wrong, the concoction that Gilla Bruja whipped up with “Tooth and Nail” is hardly rocket science material, but works well enough to be sufficiently fulfilling.

The downsides of “Tooth and Nail” are also a little numerous and probably do as much harm as they do good for the four lads from the Mexican death cult (Gilla Bruja was named after a Mexican death cult). The samples of the aforementioned cheesy TV cuts, while gimmicky and able to initiate a smile on occasion do get tiring really, really quickly. The other large point of annoyance is the vocals from Paul March aka Wilda Beast. This fellow possesses a decent set of nuts and has the ability to make a fine death or grind vocalist; the downside to this is that he sounds absolutely terrible on the more industrial tracks, ‘Whipped’ being one such prime example.

However while the detractions sink this record considerably they are not really enough to relegate it to the bottom of the CD pile, in fact maybe only around half way.

Bottom Line: Initially a highly entertaining record letdown by a few weird moments and poor selection decisions by Gilla Bruja. “Tooth and Nail” is good enough to recommend to those into a different side of metal or wanting a change of upholstery.

Categorical Rating Breakdown

Musicianship: 7
Atmosphere: 5.5
Production: 5.5
Originality: 6
Overall: 6

Rating: 6 out of 10