"A Word" With Arkadius from SuidAkra !
SuidAkra are a Melodic Death Metal band from Germany. The band is strongly influenced by Celtic/Folk music.
Active since 1994, the band went through various line up changes, and released 8 studio albums so far with the 9th album titled "Crógacht" being released on February 20th.
SuidAkra are famous for their use of Celtic/Folk sounds, like on their 2006 album Caledonia, where Axel Römer contributed bagpipes to the Scottish themed album.
Back in 1994 when the band was started out, they went under the name "Gloryfication" but later on changed their name. The name SuidAkra has a pretty interesting twist, its frontman Arkadius' name spelled backwards.
Recently the band released their latest video for "Shattering The Swords" from their upcoming album "Crógacht".
"Crógacht" will also be featuring a hand full of guest musicians.
I got the chance to catch up with the band's frontman/guitarist Arkadius who is also the core member of the band.
I've been a fan of SuidAkra for years now, so I really enjoyed this opportunity to ask Arkadius about the band's upcoming album, shooting the video for "Shattering Swords", the metal scene, and alot more.
Here's how it went:
TMR: First of all, I'd like to thank you for this opportunity, hows it going ?
Arkadius: Thanx fine, I always enjoy doing interviews...
TMR: You guys are getting ready to release your latest studio effort titled "Crógacht", what does the title mean ?
Arkadius: “Crógacht” is the irish word for “valor”, “bravery”...First of all we came up with the idea to title the album “Velour” but in our opinion it didn’t sound that good, so we found the Irish word with the same meaning. We thought that would fit to the concept 100%.
TMR: Your previous album "Caledonia" was a return to your roots, what musical direction are you taking on "Crógacht" ?
Arkadius: I think the main differences between “Crógacht” and the earlier releases lie in the sound of the production and in our musical and songwriting skills. Both have improved on every record and while the first releases sounded quite raw it changed to a kind “controlled power” on the newer ones. On “Crógacht” we experienced how it works to write music according to a concept. I guess this would not have succeeded in the early days… The new material is faster, more bombastic & melodic at the same time.
TMR: You guys recently released the video for "Shattering Swords" how was filming the video ?
Arkadius: It made so much fun to play the role in this clip. I wanted to hire a real actor to play Cuchulainn because the first shooting was at the end of November and we were at this time still in the studio mixing and mastering the new album. But Sebastian (producer of the clip) wanted me to play this role. I agreed and we all met each other to start. The whole shooting was relaxed and I especially enjoyed the makeup effects hahaha I love this wound in my face....
A few weeks later the whole band met Sebastian again to do the band shooting for this clip. All went better than expected. Because of the experience with Sebastian on the “The IXth Legion” clip we worked more as a team and get this flow into all this!
If we will get the chance to do another clip... ANYTIME!!!
TMR: Which bands are you currently listening to ?
Arkadius: Oh there are a lot of bands from different music genres. Bands like Death, AC/DC, 16 Horsepower but also some Classic music. It's important for me to be open minded you know. I compare this with food, I mean it's boring to eat spaghetti every day hahaha...
TMR: What influenced you to start SuidAkra ?
Arkadius: First of all I was influenced by Krik Hammett & Angus Young to start play the guitar. When we started with the band there were bands like Amorphis, Blind Guardian but also Emperor who influenced us in the earlier days 'till we found our own sound.
TMR: What do you think of today's metal scene, do you think its growing ?
Arkadius: I think so. When we started with SuidAkrA there were not that many different styles of metal. In the last 15 years many new metal genres came up which is a really good development in my opinion. This development is helpful to keep the metal scene fresh and interesting.
TMR: Who would you like to collaborate with from the music scene but still didn't get the chance to ?
Arkadius: Oh there are so many hahaha... It's not important for me if the musician is famous or not. I like to work with musicians that love what they do. This is also the reason why we have so many guest musicians on our new release “Crógacht”.
TMR: Would you ever consider playing some shows around the Middle East. Egypt, UAE, Jordan, and Lebanon for example ?
Arkadius: Oh that would be really great. You know I love to play in different countries, because I'm always interested in their culture, metal scene and history. We never get the chance in the Middle East and if we ever get the opportunity we will be there!!!
TMR: Thank you so much Arkadius for this opportunity, would you like to add anything ?
Arkadius: We hope to meet many people this year on our tour! Feel free to check out SuidAkrA on the net: http://www.myspace.com/suidakra so you know the lyrics to sing along or the correct timing to bang your heads off at the show! See you there! Prost.
I'd like to thank Arkadius for taking the time to answer my questions and for being so awesome.
Make sure you head over to SuidAkra's official myspace page to get a taste of "Crógacht" and for all the latest updates.
Here's the awesomely awesome video for "Shattering Swords" from the band's upcoming album "Crógacht"
Active since 1994, the band went through various line up changes, and released 8 studio albums so far with the 9th album titled "Crógacht" being released on February 20th.
SuidAkra are famous for their use of Celtic/Folk sounds, like on their 2006 album Caledonia, where Axel Römer contributed bagpipes to the Scottish themed album.
Back in 1994 when the band was started out, they went under the name "Gloryfication" but later on changed their name. The name SuidAkra has a pretty interesting twist, its frontman Arkadius' name spelled backwards.
Recently the band released their latest video for "Shattering The Swords" from their upcoming album "Crógacht".
"Crógacht" will also be featuring a hand full of guest musicians.
I got the chance to catch up with the band's frontman/guitarist Arkadius who is also the core member of the band.
I've been a fan of SuidAkra for years now, so I really enjoyed this opportunity to ask Arkadius about the band's upcoming album, shooting the video for "Shattering Swords", the metal scene, and alot more.
Here's how it went:
TMR: First of all, I'd like to thank you for this opportunity, hows it going ?
Arkadius: Thanx fine, I always enjoy doing interviews...
TMR: You guys are getting ready to release your latest studio effort titled "Crógacht", what does the title mean ?
Arkadius: “Crógacht” is the irish word for “valor”, “bravery”...First of all we came up with the idea to title the album “Velour” but in our opinion it didn’t sound that good, so we found the Irish word with the same meaning. We thought that would fit to the concept 100%.
TMR: Your previous album "Caledonia" was a return to your roots, what musical direction are you taking on "Crógacht" ?
Arkadius: I think the main differences between “Crógacht” and the earlier releases lie in the sound of the production and in our musical and songwriting skills. Both have improved on every record and while the first releases sounded quite raw it changed to a kind “controlled power” on the newer ones. On “Crógacht” we experienced how it works to write music according to a concept. I guess this would not have succeeded in the early days… The new material is faster, more bombastic & melodic at the same time.
TMR: You guys recently released the video for "Shattering Swords" how was filming the video ?
Arkadius: It made so much fun to play the role in this clip. I wanted to hire a real actor to play Cuchulainn because the first shooting was at the end of November and we were at this time still in the studio mixing and mastering the new album. But Sebastian (producer of the clip) wanted me to play this role. I agreed and we all met each other to start. The whole shooting was relaxed and I especially enjoyed the makeup effects hahaha I love this wound in my face....
A few weeks later the whole band met Sebastian again to do the band shooting for this clip. All went better than expected. Because of the experience with Sebastian on the “The IXth Legion” clip we worked more as a team and get this flow into all this!
If we will get the chance to do another clip... ANYTIME!!!
TMR: Which bands are you currently listening to ?
Arkadius: Oh there are a lot of bands from different music genres. Bands like Death, AC/DC, 16 Horsepower but also some Classic music. It's important for me to be open minded you know. I compare this with food, I mean it's boring to eat spaghetti every day hahaha...
TMR: What influenced you to start SuidAkra ?
Arkadius: First of all I was influenced by Krik Hammett & Angus Young to start play the guitar. When we started with the band there were bands like Amorphis, Blind Guardian but also Emperor who influenced us in the earlier days 'till we found our own sound.
TMR: What do you think of today's metal scene, do you think its growing ?
Arkadius: I think so. When we started with SuidAkrA there were not that many different styles of metal. In the last 15 years many new metal genres came up which is a really good development in my opinion. This development is helpful to keep the metal scene fresh and interesting.
TMR: Who would you like to collaborate with from the music scene but still didn't get the chance to ?
Arkadius: Oh there are so many hahaha... It's not important for me if the musician is famous or not. I like to work with musicians that love what they do. This is also the reason why we have so many guest musicians on our new release “Crógacht”.
TMR: Would you ever consider playing some shows around the Middle East. Egypt, UAE, Jordan, and Lebanon for example ?
Arkadius: Oh that would be really great. You know I love to play in different countries, because I'm always interested in their culture, metal scene and history. We never get the chance in the Middle East and if we ever get the opportunity we will be there!!!
TMR: Thank you so much Arkadius for this opportunity, would you like to add anything ?
Arkadius: We hope to meet many people this year on our tour! Feel free to check out SuidAkrA on the net: http://www.myspace.com/suidakra so you know the lyrics to sing along or the correct timing to bang your heads off at the show! See you there! Prost.
I'd like to thank Arkadius for taking the time to answer my questions and for being so awesome.
Make sure you head over to SuidAkra's official myspace page to get a taste of "Crógacht" and for all the latest updates.
Here's the awesomely awesome video for "Shattering Swords" from the band's upcoming album "Crógacht"
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