Sure, you’re gearing up for an Opeth headcave (more on that here) at Summer Storm 2012. But did you know that the festival will also showcase the talents of a German death metal band with a curious interest in Celtic folklore (deets)? It’s a question that can be a real conversation starter at parties and we had to do some serious research to learn more about this band. Figuring out what SuidAkrA is all about was a challenging experience but it really makes listening to new music worthwhile (as well as answering the question of what a German melodic death metal band with Celtic folk influences looks like).
This band was founded in 1994 by Arkadius Antonik and Stefan Moller in Dusseldorf, Germany. After getting things together and solidying their lineup in their formative years, SuidAkrA played death metal and never looked back. Through the last couple of decades the band has gone through many changes especially in personnel and influences. We asked frontman and founder Arkadius Antonik more about the band’s name, work ethic, and interest in Celtic folklore.
The story goes that the band name, SuidAkrA is just ‘Arkadius’ spelled backwards, is this true?
Oh yes that’s true hahaha. To be honest, there is no special story behind it. We used to call the band Glorification but we were never happy with that band name. One day, our drummer told me he had a teddy bear called ‘Naffets’ – so ‘Stefan’ backwards – and I thought, that is really a stupid idea hahaha. So we started to make fun of it and wrote our names backwards. Arkadius backwards was Suidakra and I though that sound like a good name for a metal band, and we decided to call us (ourselves) SuidAkrA from that day on…
SuidAkrA has been playing music for almost 20 years now and faced a lot of changes. Do you feel that the essence of SuidAkrA has remained as strong and true as before?
Oh yes! Because even though we had many changes in the lineup for example, the most important thing always survived -the passion for music. I (Arkadius Antoink) am the only member who’s left from the beginning and I have (a) strong influence on the SuidAkrA sound, that made sure that we never lost our own style. But at the same time we always tried to keep our sound fresh to make sure (we did) not repeat ourselves. Every time we wrote new songs it feels like the new upcoming album, is always like our debut album. We are still excited as we were at the beginning and that’s the most important thing, to keep our strong and true essence alive.
A band taking up melodic death metal with strong Celtic folk elements is a bit unusual. Where did the inspiration for this kind of music come from?
We started to enrich our sound with folk elements long before the whole folk pagan trend came up. For us, it was just a good opportunity to add one more element beside the metal, to our sound. It would be boring for SuidAkrA to play only metal… The Celtic music was really helpful because we could create different moods and sounds in our melodic death metal sound.
Can you give us examples of your favorite Celtic tales that you might or might not have used in your music?
Oh, I have to admit there are so many stories in the Celtic mythology we never used. And that’s a really cool thing (be)cause we could create a lot more concept albums without having the feeling of getting bored. For me personally, the Celtic sound and also the stories are fascinating because they seem to be happy but always with a melancholic sub (under) tone.
One of the stories that catched me (caught my attention) was the tale of Cú Chulainn we used of our Crógacht album. It is full of proud, adventures(sic) battles but it’s also a very tragic story at the end.
Album artwork Crogaht by Kris Virwimp
The Indian metal fan is gaining a worldwide reputation. Have you heard about the developments in metal here in India?
To be honest I don’t really know much about the Indian metal scene. And that’s really good because I am really looking forward to meet(ing) the Indian Metal fans without any expectations… We really love to talk to metal fans from all over the world. I only had a few chances to speak with fans from India via Facebook, but the opinion of a few fans doesn’t represent the whole scene. So I’m proud of the chance we’ve got to come to India and make new experiences.
You have released ten albums over the past 18 years and this kind of creativity and output can be difficult to maintain. What is the secret to your longevity and work ethic?
It ain’t that difficult for us. Sure at the beginning of the (our) career, it was much harder to write new albums because like every new band, you have to find your way of composing and your own style. But the desire to write new songs was stronger that our fear to accept the challenge.
This year we found our cycle to make a new record, being on tour for one year and (then to) start writing new songs. I get crazy right now after being on the road for one year when I can’t write new material. You can call me addicted hahahaha!
Have you prepared something special for your set at Summer Storm?
We will play a very long ‘best of’ SuidAkrA set, and for the first time in the band’s history, we will play with our studio bagpiper, Axel, live outside Germany. We shared the stage with him a few time(s) for special shows like Wacken but the shows were always in Germany. I think it’s gonna (sic) be a great party night and we all looking forward to it.
Are there any Indian bands you hope to catch on your visit here?
Unfortunately I don’t know many Indian bands so that’s why I’m also excited to come to India and discover new bands. I can’t wait!!! \m/
Photos by Stefan Schumann and YNa
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