Interview with: Arkadius from SUIDAKRA

It took over one year to finish writing the new material and one month to record Crogacht. Like mentioned in other interviews before, the songwriting was different to the way of composing in the past. We told Kris Verwimp, our longtime graphic artist who was also responsible for the lyrical concept on Crogacht, that the new album will include about nine songs. He came up with the concept and an according division into chapters. So, before we wrote the first song we knew what the whole story and album should be about to express. We sent him the first recordings from the rehearsal room and planned which song would fit to which lyric. It was a new way of sound writing for us. This time we had the opportunity to create certain moods and atmospheres according to the lyrics. To keep the sound various we introduced a lot of new elements like banjo, bagpipes, and Tina's Voice on Feats Of War.

Working with Kris is great because he develops his artworks from album to album! Also this time the front cover seems to be simple, but it's not. It's just a little section from a big painting which is visible in the digipack artwork. It's a collage of the whole story...

No, because it's too expensive for us to do another video clip. But hey, maybe the new record will sell better and we will be able to do another three video clips, hahaha!

Not really, because in my opinion every track has it's own atmosphere and character. So, every time I listen to the album I can't decide which song is better because it's hard to compare them!

The recordings were also very special this time. We worked with martin Buchwalter for the third time and he never gets bored with us, hehehe. He likes to develop himself as a producer and to record bagpipes and other exotic instruments is very exciting for him. I knew that it's gonna be hard to mix the sound, because at some parts of the songs there are so many different instruments and you have to do a good mix to give each element its own place so it can be heard! Martin managed it perfect. For me the new album's sound is more powerful and bombastic at the same time. I think this is a perfect mixture!

Yeah, since 2005 we have been signed to Armaggeddon Music, a label that was transformed into Wacken Records/SPV last year. We're happy so far because SPV can supply a much better distribution now than we had before. They are really providing their support for our band and our new album.

I have to admit that I don't really have to be in a special mood to become creative. When I grab my guitar and start playing it's like I'm leaving this world hahaha! I 100% concentrate myself on the music and then I get the flow. That's the first step. After I finish writing the first ideas we are working together with the rest of the band on the material and that is the moment where I get many ideas how to arrange the stuff...

First of all, I personally was influenced by Kirk Hammett & Angus Young to start playing the guitar. When we started with the band there were bands like AMORPHIS, BLING GUARDIAN but also EMPEROR who influenced us in the earlier days 'till we found our own sound.

That's right, we all really like the ancient mythologies. We had the idea that our graphic artist Kris Verwimp could create a lyrical concept for us, when we found out years before that he also released pagan comics & books that tell Irish stories. The problem was that we always were finished with the songwriting a few weeks before we were about to enter the studio, so there wasn't time left to work on that. After the Caledonia album was released, we met Kris at one of our shows in Germany and we asked him about our idea. He was very excited to work on such a big project. He came up with the idea of using that Irish legend and we gave him free space to create the story like he would like to.

Not really, it's definitely not easier, but much more interesting. You don't have that much freedom when you write the single songs. You have always to keep the chronological order in your mind. And sometimes the ideas do not really fit to the concept so you have to change everything. But for me it's a very special feeling when we finish the whole album and see how well it all worked out!

After the four week US tour in March we will take part on a few summer festivals before we will go on a European tour in autumn. We're looking forward to play in many European countries as we can!

Hmmm, to be honest I don't really spend much time thinking about any markets or something. I'm a musician and not really interested in all this business stuff that are part of our label's work, hehehe! For me it's important that many people like the new record no matter in which country or continent.

I think both eras have their positive aspects. I mean nowadays it's easier for a band to promote their stuff via Internet etc. Back in the days when we started it was harder, we had to record a demo tape and write letters but there were not that many bands. So when you had a unique sound and did something special it was easier to grow. I think that bands nowadays have to play much more shows just to be on the screen. It's not enough anymore just to make good music!

Hmmm, I noticed that there are so many new Pagan bands but I have to admit that I don't really care about this. It's like every trend, there are so many bands that start and disappear in a short time. We always followed our own rules and still do.

We hope to meet many people this year on our tour! Feel free to check out SUIDAKRA on the net so you know the lyrics to sing along or the correct timing to bang your heads off at the show! See you there! Prost. Thanks so much, thank you for supporting SUIDAKRA!