Review by Alain on March 16, 2020.

Suidakra has been since the beginning of its career one of the most underrated band in the scene. To release such a solid efforts as The Arcanum or Emprise to Avalon seems not to be enough to make these musicians being successful and irremediably they have been lost in a sea of anonymity. They can be considered one of the first bands who focused their lyrics on pagan/historic themes and apart from most of the German bands they have always shown a great interest in Celtic tales. This genuine band plays an interesting melodic death metal strongly influenced by Gaelic folk and with an excellent taste for epic melodies. Although their interest in Celtic traditional music is well-known they had never used too much folk instruments in their music, but this aspect changed when they released Caledonia, a work which recovered the best version of this fantastic band.

And now, two years later and when the pagan/folk genre lives its golden age, Suidakra has released an album destined to position the band in the first line, smashing all the mediocre groups, something that Arkadius and the others have always deserved. Crógacht (meaning "bravery" in Irish Gaelic) supposes a giant step forward in their career. It is an amazing mixture of fast-paced death melodic parts, excellent guitar melodies and now, more than ever, the inclusion of real Celtic folk instruments as highland bagpipes or tin whistles. This addition is absolutely awesome and enriches the album greatly, helping to create the adequate atmosphere in the album, which is essential because Crógacht is a conceptual album based on one of the most dramatic tales in the Irish mythology, "The death of Aoife's only son".

The album itself is short (no more than 42 minutes) but extraordinarily fresh, dynamic and majestic. Each song has its own soul and distinctive melody. From the initial and fast 'Canlaoch', the echoing 'Isle of Sky' or the awesome folk beginning of 'Scátchach', with the fantastic bagpipes, the whole album breaths grandeur. This work recovers the fast-old style of the band and maintains the excellent taste for melodies which is great news for the diehard fans. On the other hand, we have peaceful moments with the instrumentals and the beautiful female sung "Feats of War", a delicate and beautiful acoustic composition. Such a brave album could not end with a better song than 'Bailes Strand', oh my god, this song is epic as its best!. From the very beginning with the choir and the sound of swords you know that this song will blow away anyone who listens to it. The guitar riffs and the atmospheric keyboard are touching and absolutely tremendous until the end of the song. This composition must be the sonic definition of what a warrior should felt before a battle, really amazing!.

In conclusion it is quite remarkable to see a band like Suidakra that after so many years making music can finally reach its peak and release an album destinated to be a classic. Congratulations guys you have created a timeless masterpiece!

Rating: 9.6 out of 10

Review by Adam on January 3, 2003.

Christian Metal: The name has the ability to strike fear into the minds of many metalheads, but why? With bands like Six Feet Deep coming out, no one sees that they place their passion into their music as much as they do into their faith. “The Road Less Traveled” is this: pure unadulterated metal. It is the kind of stuff I miss after hearing overly technical band after overly technical band. Longing for something simpler but something that can still pack a wallop, I return to this CD time and time again.

The energetic execution with which the band plays the songs on “The Road Less Traveled” makes up for any lack of originality within the music itself. The album has an unidentifiable quality that just makes you want to keep listening. Throughout the CD, the style flows from grooving metal to hardcore to melodic, often in the confines of just one song. Where “The Road Less Traveled” truly shines is when it delves into the more melodic aspect of their sound. The vocals rarely break out of their hardcore shell, yet when they do, they are done in a manner which borderlines corniness but never really making it there.

The musicianship is nothing to rave about but that is one of the things that I like about this CD. It is very straightforward, to the point, and done well, which is something I tend to miss nowadays. The production suits the style they play very well, as the guitars are very crisp and heavy. The bass also manages to add melodic layers to certain songs instead of just simply playing along with them. The vocalist is just not another one of those screamers who yells wordlessly and that’s it. He plays guitar on all of the tracks and the bass on a couple others. The lyrics are also quite interesting. Not to worry - there is no excessive Jesus preaching to be found here!

Being a fairly old record, it is sad to see the small amount of attention it got when it is deserving of so much more. The way it bridges the hardcore into the emotional and melodic still sounds fresh to me every time I decide to pop it into my CD player. This is a rare gift to the metal world that I think all headbangers can appreciate. Fans of the technicality and brutality will not find much to feast on here. “The Road Less Traveled” is more for the metal fans that miss the excitement of simple metal done extremely well. If that is the kind of thing you are interested in, then I suggest you look no further than Six Feet Deep.

Bottom Line: Simple metal for the guy who just wants to headbang to some plain old well played metal.

Categorical Rating Breakdown

Originality: 8
Musicianship: 7
Atmosphere: 8
Production: 7
Overall: 7.5

Rating: 7.5 out of 10.