Suidakra – Realms of Odoric

Label: AFM Records  Release 20th May 2016  Playing Time: 48 Min  

Hard to believe, but SuidAkrA are releasing their 12^th studio album. Respect! And also big respect for more than 20 years of SuidAkrA. But “Realms of Odoric” is much more than just a simple new Metal album. It is, more or less, a cross media project. The basis is a mystic world developed by the painter Chris Verwimp and SuidAkrA’s bandleader Arkadius Antonik.

That’s the background, but more important is the music itself. “Realms of Odoric” offers some strange contrasts. There are for example songs like ‘Undaunted’ and ‘Pictish Pride’, which contain Metal ingredients combined with folky stuff and some female vocals by guest vocalist Tina Stabel. In general, those songs are well-done, but due to the more or less pop-style vocals, they do not fit 100% to the rest of the rather rough stuff. Rough stuff, like the more typical SuidAkrA sounding  ‘Lion of Darcania’ and the great ‘The Hunter’s Horde’.

But things that take away the flow of this multilayered and challenging album are numerous breaks with “pseudo songs” like ‘Creeping Blood’. Those interludes create the impression of a soundtrack, but not of a typical Metal album. Nevertheless, a well-done release!

www.suidakra.com