Crógacht is the ninth studio album by the German

melodic death metal Melodic death metal (also referred to as melodeath) is a subgenre of death metal that employs highly melodic guitar riffs, often borrowing from traditional heavy metal (including New Wave of British Heavy Metal). The genre features the heavines ...

band

Suidakra Suidakra (stylized SuidAkrA) is a German melodic death metal band from Düsseldorf, Germany. During their thirty-year career, they have performed over 200 live shows for several European and Russian tours, as well as a North American tour. The ...

. This album features a greater Celtic sound and theme than earlier works. In particular, it builds on the sound formed in the previous album, ''

Caledonia Caledonia (; ) was the Latin name used by the Roman Empire to refer to the forested region in the central and western Scottish Highlands, particularly stretching through parts of what are now Lochaber, Badenoch, Strathspey, and possibly as ...

'', notably through the additional introduction of a sixteen-member choir as well as traditional instruments, such as the

tin whistle The tin whistle, also known as the penny whistle, is a simple six-holed woodwind instrument. It is a type of fipple flute, a class of instrument which also includes the recorder and Native American flute. A tin whistle player is called a whistl ...

banjo The banjo is a stringed instrument with a thin membrane stretched over a frame or cavity to form a resonator. The membrane is typically circular, and in modern forms is usually made of plastic, where early membranes were made of animal skin. ...

, in addition to the

bagpipe Bagpipes are a woodwind instrument using enclosed reeds fed from a constant reservoir of air in the form of a bag. The Great Highland bagpipes are well known, but people have played bagpipes for centuries throughout large parts of Europe, No ...

featured in both albums. Contrasting these new influences, ''Crógacht'' maintains the well-grounded melodic death sound that ''SuidAkrA'' began with in earlier albums.

Release history and tour activity

''Crógacht'' was recorded and mixed between 10 November 2008 and 30 November 2008 by Martin Buchwalter at Gernhart Recording Studio in Siegburg, Germany. The album was released on February 20, 2009, in Germany, and on 3 March 2009 in the United States. In early 2009, ''SuidAkrA'' supported its release on a North American tour.

Concept and storyline

''"Crógacht"'', the Irish word for bravery, is based in its entirety on the Irish folktale, Aided Óenfhir Aífe. It tells the story of the hero Cuchulainn’s journey to the Hebridean island of

Skye The Isle of Skye, or simply Skye, is the largest and northernmost of the major islands in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland. The island's peninsulas radiate from a mountainous hub dominated by the Cuillin, the rocky slopes of which provide some o ...

, where he seeks to learn the arts of war from the Scythian warrior woman

Scáthach Scáthach () or Sgàthach () is a figure in the Ulster Cycle of Irish mythology. She is a legendary Scottish warrior woman and martial arts teacher who trains the legendary Ulster hero Cú Chulainn in the arts of combat. Texts describe her hom ...

. The decisions he then has to make set the events in motion that will lead up to his son Conlaoch’s tragic fate.

Track listing

# "Slán" – 1:49 # "Conlaoch" – 5:18 # "Isle of Skye" – 6:00 # "Scáthach" – 5:09 # "Feats of War" – 2:47 # "Shattering Swords" – 4:15 # "Ár Nasc Fola" – 3:02 # "Gilded Oars" – 5:36 # "Baile's Strand" – 7:20

Personnel

Suidakra: * Arkadius Antonik –

vocals Singing is the art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define sing ...

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

s, keyboards, banjo * Marcus Riewaldt –

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Wood * Bass or basswood, the wood of the tilia americana tree Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in th ...

* Lars Wehner –

drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...

backing vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are us ...

Session/guest musicians: * Axel Römer - bagpipes, tin whistle * Tina Stabel -

on ''Feats of War'' * Miriam Hensel - additional guest

on ''Shattering Swords'' * Sebastian Hintz - backing vocals Other staff: * Martin Buchwalter – mixing * Kris Verwimp -

lyrics Lyrics are words that make up a song, usually consisting of verses and choruses. The writer of lyrics is a lyricist. The words to an extended musical composition such as an opera are, however, usually known as a "libretto" and their writer, ...

cover art Cover art is a type of artwork presented as an illustration or photograph on the outside of a published product, such as a book (often on a dust jacket), magazine, newspaper ( tabloid), comic book, video game ( box art), music album ( album ar ...

work, album concept

References

External links

Various news articles on the album's release

Track by track explanation of the album concept by Kris Verwimp

Album lyrics on suidakra.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Crogacht 2009 albums Suidakra albums