Suidakra - Crogacht

The ninth studio album from Suidakra, titled Crogacht, comes off as a sheep among the flock in Metal albums. These German rockers have apparently been going strong for over a decade. I guess you can tell by the lack of anything exciting on this release. It seems that they borrow a lot from already-been-popular Cradle of Filth on this album, or maybe it was the other way around. Don't judge, I'm not too familiar with Sudakra's work. Either way, within the first two songs of the album, a "been there, done that" vibe is clinging to my brain, aside from the bagpipes toward the end.

I'm going to start off saying that first off, I didn't know that using bagpipes was "metal." I mean, anyone can use whatever instruments they want to in recordings, but it sticks out like a sore amputated thumb. By the fourth track, there's already enough bagpipe. Yet, they still decide to open the fourth track with a bagpipe-ridden intro, after which guitars repeat the bagpipe's part. For some reason, it's not sounding as good as the bagpipe just did. Okay. This is a serious problem. The GUITAR isn't sounding as good as the BAGPIPES just did. Problem #1.

That's enough about the bagpipes, I shouldn't beat a dead horse. In all, the album's effort seems to be best defined as "tired" and "overdone." The vocals, sung by "Arkadius" (if that IS his real name) are very boring and monotonous. The fifth track, "Feats of War" features some very oddly placed female vocals. This is really not doing it for me. I think the best part about this band is the drummer, who still doesn't really add much style or flair of his own to the performance. It seems like there's too much ride cymbal use on here for it to be considered a great Metal drum performance. Everyone has their own choices and styles, which is why this is MY personal review, and not the review of the world.

So, take this review into consideration or leave it, but personally, I'm going to leave this one on the shelf. The overall unenthusiastic performance and "cut-and-dry" style of Sudakra's Crogacht is definitely a turn-off for me. As mentioned earlier, I'm not familiar with the band, and they may have been known for being pioneers of metal by incorporating Celtic folk songs into sections of their Metal performances, but it's not flying with me.



The Damage:



1 out of 5 Mustaches.
Recommended if you like the sound of Metal. Not recommended if you don't like hearing the same thing in Metal all the time.