The Celtic melodic death metal pioneers Suidakra have got better and better with each release, and this year has decided to go all down the road of a concept record again. Fair play to them, as it’s what they do best, and they still make it sound excellent unlike half the concept album garbage that is floating round nowadays. Cough Rhapsody of Fire cough! Book of Dowth will convert the haters of both concept albums and melodic death metal, by blowing their brains out with insane musicianship, Celtic mythology, and the quest to find and destroy the dreaded Book of Dowth!

People say: “How can you have melodic death metal? Surely it’s all brutal and shouting!” Well, all you awkward bastards out there should see that Suidakra are far different to the likes of Cannibal Corpse and Obituary. The vocals sound far throatier and the music, tinnier and blasting, stepping towards black metal in places. Suidakra are by far one of the best melodic death metal bands going. Their songs are tuneful and you can quite easily sing along and head bang like a maniac to tracks like: ‘Dowth 2059’, ‘The Dark Mound’ and ‘Fury Fomoraigh’. They are extremely catchy and quite pagan like, as you can hear the cult chants and sacrificial drums creeping in throughout the album.

The vocals on this album are ferocious indeed and quite scary as a matter of fact. Arkadius is an insane frontman holding listeners in suspense, shock and horror with his huge voice. He has to be one of the best melodic death metal singers going, shitting all over Alexi Laiho and Johan Hegg. He also does the guitar parts when recording so, this guy is a man of all talents, and has clearly done his research before writing and performing such a killer record.

The only concern with Book of Dowth is that you can’t tell when one track becomes another. The more aggressive side to the album just seems to go on and on and on, and before you know it, you think one track has just finished when in fact you have been through three or four! Thank god for the mellower tracks like ‘Mag Mell’ and ‘Stone of the Seven Suns’ which add a bit of diversity and difference to the rest of the album, showing that you don’t have to be aggressive and fast to sound really good.

When it comes to Celtic melodic death metal Suidakra are the band to take the genre forward. Their mish mash of crunchy guitar riffs and screaming vocal lines really sends pleasure and freight into the fans heart. Put this album on, have a hell of a good time, and sacrifice a goat while you’re at it.