For this follow-up to "Crogacht"
(an album that ranked in the top 5 of my Best of 2009 list), I was certainly
eager to see how the newest Suidakra album would measure up. "The Book of Dowth"
doesn't quite match up to the level of "Crogacht" but on its own, it ends up
being a serviceable listening experience.
Quite a few of the songs on the album are catchy (such as "Birog's Oath" and "Mag
Mell"). Still, there really aren't any standout tracks. The variety in the types
of tracks remains, with a decent mix of melodic death and folk, with the
occasional black metal riffing thrown in here or there. And Suidakra's
integration of Celtic influences remains at the top of the heap. There seems to
be more slower paced songs, some featuring heavier riffs than I'm accustomed to
hearing from them.
As a whole though, I'm a little bit underwhelmed. The inventiveness just isn't
there. The riffing on the album fails to be memorable; I think more of the
vocals than anything else (and this band has wrote some very memorable riffs in
the past). The drumming also stands out in faster spots, but those are
infrequent.
I still enjoyed listening to the album, but as far as Suidakra stuff goes, I'd
rather listen to Crogacht, and this album isn't going to compare to stronger
folk metal efforts by other bands. So I don't see this one having much shelf
life in someone's regular rotation, but it's worth checking out.
