SuiDakra - Ready to kick some asses

“Playing live is everything for us, so when we get on stage it’s really powerful,” explains Arkadius, singer/guitarist for German Celtic metal band SuiDakrA. He and bandmates – Lars (drums), Marcus (bass) and Sebastian Hintz (touring guitarist) - will bring that power to the upcoming Pagan Knights Tour with Tyr and Alestorm. This is only the second US trip in the band’s 14-year history.

In 2008 they were invited to play the Chicago Powerfest. “It was very good for us,” Arkadius recalls, “because Paganfest was going on in the States, and we knew its organizer. He asked if we were interested in taking part in six shows as special guests. We did and were blown away. We didn’t expect people would be freaking out on SuiDakrA,” he says in amazement. “I didn’t know we were that famous.”

Arkadius formed the band in 1994 with classmates as way to play Metallica, but it eventually turned into a real band. They were called “Gloryfication” at that time, but they weren’t satisfied with the name. “We had a drinking session and started writing our names backwards,” Arkadius reports, as he reflects on that day. “Then it was my turn. My name backwards is SuiDakrA and I thought, ‘hey, that sounds cool. Let’s call the band SuiDakrA’”

Clarifying the pronunciation Arkadius admits, “The word doesn’t really exist so it’s hard to say how you would pronounce it the right way. During our first US appearance last year, most of the time I heard it pronounced as ‘Sui-Dah-kra’ - like in suicide and then Dah-kra. In German we pronounce it differently. We say ‘Zvee-dah-kra.’ Sui-dah-kra sounds so much cooler. More American,” he chuckles.

In 2001 the whole lineup changed when his best friend Steffan Moller (drummer) and ex-girlfriend (keyboards) both left the band. Fortunately he had met Lars two weeks before and “we decided to talk and drink some beer,” he recalls. “I said ‘Hey, if you want to do some sessions with me in my rehearsal room, let’s get together.’”

After the lineup change, he called Lars to help him finish recording Emprise To Avalon but never envisioned him joining the band. “When we entered the studio to record, it worked perfectly between us,” he explains. “He came up with the idea of introducing Marcus into the band as the bass player, because he used to play with him in another death metal band.”

March will mark the US release of the band’s ninth studio album - Crogacht. Based on Irish mythology, it was created by the band’s long-time artwork designer, Kris Verwimp. “He created the whole story and we just came up with the lyrics,” notes Arkadius. “The interesting thing is that this time we did the songwriting a bit differently, because we had a person not involved in the band who created the lyrical content. We told Kris we were going to write nine songs, so he created a division of the story in nine chapters. Then we did the lyrics and the music at the same time.”

You can learn about each chapter on the band’s website at www.suidakra.com.

Crogacht is an epic feast that intertwines furious metal rhythms, aggressive vocals, acoustic guitar, Irish folk, bagpipes, tin whistles and a 16-member choir. “It would be really boring to us, for example, to put out a grindcore or metal album where every song sounds the same,” advises Arkadius. “So we really worked on the details of every song. I think this is why every song has its own special character, which is very important to us.”

Catch SuiDakrA when the Pagan Knights Tour makes a stop at the Ridglea Theater. March 6. “We’re going to kick some asses definitely,” promises Arkadius. “We are really looking forward to play(ing) for the first time in Texas, and we’re excited because all the metal fans are in Texas. So we look forward to drinking a lot of beer with the Texas fans.”