Interview is done by Georgia Bootsali!

1.Hallo Arkadius, thank you for doing this interview for HEAVY METAL COSMOS!
First of all, what are the first reactions you received  concerning the band's new release "Book of Dowth"?

Oh they are great I mean after releasing 9 previous records and after such a great output like Crógacht the expectations were very high form our fans. And they really like the new album. I read really enthusiastic feedback via email or facebook and that makes me really happy. I’m always interested in our fans opinion and the new album proved that we’ve made everything correct.

2.How exciting is, after 13 years of constant studio presence, to enter the studio? Does this get better by the years or does the fun at some point has to stop?

Oh no, it’s totally the opposite. The more albums we’ve recorded the more fun we have. One important reason is that we made so many experiences in the past and on the other hand are still experimental during the recording process. The better you are the more new possibilities you have in the studio. If I would have the time I would enter the studio every year to record a new album hehehe

3. How would you describe the taste that leaves in the mouth the hearing of "Book of Dowth"?

I would say that after listening to this album you feel the desire to get more and listen to it again and again. It has so many detailed things and a very rich sound that it always reveals something new to the listener. That point makes this record to a “long-life” album. You don’t get bored after listening to it once or twice.
The fact that “Book Of Dowth” is a concept album gives us the chance to create also a special atmosphere that is left behind after listening to the entire album.

4. Are you pleased by the final result?Has your inspiration found the "right"way out from the depths of your mind and heart?

Yeah I mean if I wouldn’t be satisfied I wouldn’t release this album hahaha We’re not entering the studio before we aren’t 100% satisfied with the material. And I always know before how the CD will sound like, because I have specific idea in my mind. If I would have the feeling that anything is not 100% we would stay in the studio as long as everything is realized.

5. It seems that the concept idea behind this album is somewhat a little bit more evil and dark then ever before. What exactly led you to dive in more "night mode" waters?

We’ve made a lot of concept albums in the past for example about the King Arthur legend or different Celtic stories. We felt it’s time to create something a bit new and different to our previous releases. And Kris Verwimp who made the artwork and created the concept with us came up with the idea to show the darker side of the Celtic mythology and not only the epic, heroic battle stories. We found that it’s an interesting idea because there are not that many bands that deal with this kind of themes.

6. How has the world economic and ethical crisis influenced SUIDAKRA?

Not really. We see our music as an opportunity to entertain our fans and for us to escape from the negative things that happen in the world. This is the reason why we write concept albums about legends etc. otherwise we would have much more political themes in our lyrics but we don’t want to be such a band. That doesn’t mean that we are not interested in such things but this is personal stuff for every member in the band and we just want to be creative and have fun.

7. What are your thoughts about the future in metal music?

To be honest I don’t know how metal will sound in the future. I mean metal changed so much for the 90ties, when I started with the band. And I could never imagine at that time hot the metal sound would develop like it did. I like the way it turned out that there were so many different styles born in the last 10-20 years… That keeps Metal alive and interesting. Maybe there’s going to be a trend back to the roots where bands like Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath etc created very great albums. But I don’t really know hehehe

8. Do you think that this crisis will give even more power to record companies or the opposite? Meaning that the artist perhaps could enjoy better attention...?

I know and I’m afraid of the fact that the crisis will be the total opposite of that. The thing is, that the fans have less money so they buy less albums or download them illegal. That means for bands that they get not that much support from the label because nobody want to lose money and the bands have to pay everything on their own if they don’t want to lose their standards. I mean nobody would be happy if SuidAkrA for example release a new album that sounds like shit because there is no money to pay a good production. A label is not a social service that can give away money for free. A band is just interesting for a label as long as they get the invested money back.

9. Over the years you came across many different people in many different countries... Which audience was your ideal and why?

I have to admit that there is no special country that I prefer. Every country is different and the fans as well. Of course the people have different mentalities but that the exciting thing about playing all over the world, otherwise it would be boring hahahaha…

10. You have described your music as "melodic death metal with folk influences". Have you ever felt the urge to experiment upon your musical style in a more drastic way?

There was no reason for us to do that because we as musicians had never the feeling that we repeat ourselves. Every SuidAkrA albums sound different and we always have the chance to bring new influences into our music. That keeps everything interesting for us even after all these year. If we would fell bored than we would probably change our style, but there are still so many things that we can achieve in our music…

11. What is the factor"X" that gives SUIDAKRA its uniqueness?

I would say it’s the variety and the freshness in our sound. Our sound never gets bored because it’s our biggest aim not to repeat ourselves and always keep our music interesting. That’s also why we introduce a lot of different influences and do everything with passion. A SuidAkrA fans can be 100% sure that he gets the best we can.

12. What is really your opinion about other folk melodic deathsters? For example FINNTROLL, KORPIKLAANI, TURISAS, ELUVEITIE, ARKONA?

To be honest I’m not a big fan from this whole Pagan trend that came up in the last few years. I think there are a few good bands but also a lot that sounds too folky for me and has nothing to do with Metal anymore. I miss the power and heaviness but as I said before I’m not that much into this kind of style. We’ve been with Ensiferum, Turisas & Eluveitie om tour the last few years and they are very cool guys.

13. Were  SKYCLAD  among your musical heroes?

We were influenced by Skyclad in the beginning of SuidAkrA’s history. Marcel, our former guitarist was a big fan of Martin’s lyrics. That was the reason why we also covered their “The One Piece Puzzle” on “The Arcanum” album. We had the chance to play with them on a small festival and I was happy seeing them in the crowed while we played that song. I’m also in contact with Martin himself and he told me that he really likes our coverversion which is a great thing for us! Maybe we can play this song once live with Martin as a guest vocalist.

14. Any message for your fans in Greece?

I wanna say “thanx” to everybody who suppoted SuidAkrA!!! Check out our new album “Book Of Dowth” and we see you on tour or talk to you on facebook!!! www.facebook.com/Official.SuidAkrA
METAL \m/

Arkadius thank you very much for this interview.Cheers!

Thank you Georgia it was a pleasure! Cheers

http://www.suidakra.com/