The only thing more metal than the glimmer of bloodied blade in the setting sun is the barbaric howl that reverberates afterward as a determination of victory. Early in heavy metal’s history, that kind of bravado embodied by the epic escapades of Iron Maiden, marching jams of Manilla Road, or the regressive rambunctiousness of Manowar separated that true spirit from burgeoning radio-friendly sounds in similarly incepted acts. In the modern day, the epic tag has carried on through the spirit of traditional heavy and doom-leaning acts—the Aceruses and Stygian Crowns of this world, among others. Capilla Ardiente too has carried the flag, with their 2019 opus The Siege harboring both the explosive nature required to wield steel and the patience to strike for killing impact. Less restrained in title, does Where Gods Live and Men Die possess the same battlefield tact?
If The Siege drew inspiration from a raid while the walls still stood in defense, Where Gods Live and Men Die finds itself amid the breeched fortifications. The Siege saw Felipe Plaza Kutzbach’s (Procession, Scald) barrel-chested, Bayley-intonated1 roars soar through the wade and gallop of Candlemassive riffs and aggressive Solitude Aeturnus charges against the heavy load of full gain bass thwonk—a tone far more common in stoner doom than in the moistened-loins epic world. Now, Where Gods sees an increased guide of wailing leads as histrionic intros and episodic transitions in its four episodic, long-form pieces. No matter the guitar tone, low and modern for rhythms or high and cutting for shredding hours, Claudio Botarro Neira’s monstrous four-string work never hides, finding its way to a tasteful clanging solo (“Not Here. Nowhere.,” “As I Lie on the Summit”) and dancing, progressive transition all the same.
For an act focused on building layers of harmony on mountains of riffs, Capilla Ardiente has chosen a robust and unsubtle production style for Where Gods Live and Men Die. From the opening notes a wall of distorted bass, modern-toned chords, and low-end harmonized riff lines ring in voluminous glory. Each line rings through with enough compression to allow clarity in assault, and maintains a pleasant warmth, particularly in ringing chord breakaways that segue various moments on this time-testing journey. Against Neira’s devouring bass presence, a gargantuan tone that in the wrong hands would be a recipe for bulldozed guitars, it’s no easy feat for riffs to maintain their own separate weight, and the amount of volume it takes to keep palm-muted touches crispy and trills defined can wear on the ears. But still, Capilla Ardiente plays around with enough higher frequency accents—Maiden worship roto tom fills, neoclassical melodic guitar quips—to keep the soundstage from collapsing in its own power.
Kutzbach’s well-framed vocal charisma remains equally important to the winding structure that defines Capilla Ardiente’s works. Many of his parts have a roundabout way of finding note resolution. The call-and-response vocal-guitar solo break in the midway point of “The Hands of Fate Around My Neck,” where many words fall just flat until descending into a double-tracked harmony or paired arpeggio, would be a hard sell if not for the backing triumph of the riff run that led up to it—and the blazing solo that follows it, for that matter. And Kutzbach himself holds the proper belief that a well-placed falsetto can raise the intensity level, with key breaks from his burly, tightroping baritone-shattering listening defenses as necessary. Truthfully, I’m not certain a more accurate voice2 could match the sword-clashing spirals that present in “Envenomed” or “As I Lie…” as the frenetic nature of the tempo accelerations and subsequent crawls spell for chaos not calculation. Just as in battle, it’s the last swing that matters, and Kutzbach knows this.
Through the various bouts I’ve had with Where Gods Live and Men Die, Capilla Ardiente continues to come out with sword raised high and head hanging low. Though their take on epic, progressive doom metal eschews the horrors of skirmish by focusing on the path necessary to rise above, its sullen dips into Peaceville aesthetics reminds us that the battlefield is not a jubilant place. Much like the music that Capilla Ardiente produces, navigating a dive into the fray requires careful attention to its twists. Where Gods Live and Men Die is a challenge, but not one without its spoils.
Rating: 3.5/5.0
DR: 7 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: High Roller Records3.
Websites: facebook.com/capillaardientedoom
Releases Worldwide: October 18th, 2024
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