Style: Epic Doom Metal (Clean vocals)
Recommended for fans of: Candlemass, Khemmis, Pallbearer, Krux
Country: Chile
Release date: 18 October 2024
Hell yeah. Autumn is in full swing in the northern hemisphere, and I couldn’t be happier: I languish in the oppressive Georgia summer heat, and the cooling of this unlivable hellscape means that I can finally be outside and reconnect with nature for a little bit. Inevitably, that means busting out the dark folk for the fully immersive grass-touching experience, as nothing beats watching the trees change color while listening to my favorite dark-folk-meets-black-metal grou… Hold on. I’ve just gotten a message saying this is epic doom metal. It’s not even folk? But it’s November! You expect me to go through my November listening to music that isn’t adorned in pillowy moss and weathered by the ancient winds of time? …Oh, you’re telling me it’s a new release by Capilla Ardiente? Well, that changes everything: I quite enjoyed 2019’s The Siege, and I can most certainly make time for another album of theirs. So let’s take a quick break from the falling leaves and get a full view of Where Gods Live and Men Die.
Chile’s Capilla Ardiente are no strangers to the dramatic, playing a theatrical and progressive spin on epic doom metal: the Lief Edling (Candlemass) inspiration is palpable across Where Gods Live as guitar flourishes accentuate dire riffage in classic doom fashion, weaving ideas across extensive exploratory pieces accompanied by gruffly belted vocals, deliciously chunky bass, and pummeling drum work. Many tracks take at least one moment to pick up the pace, such as the faster middle sections on “As I Lie On the Summit,” the solos that bookend “Now Here. Nowhere,” or the retro-throwback assault at the end of “The Hands of Fate Around My Neck,” but compositions on the whole favor slower and mid-paced ideas. While no excessive change can be found between 2019’s The Siege and Where Gods Live and Men Die, this does not diminish the merits of Where Gods Live, as the formula just works: Capilla Ardiente have found a songwriting approach that affords them a balance of cinematics and catchiness, so as far as I’m concerned they can get away with it as long as they like provided they can maintain their flair for doomy theatrics.
A majority of the time, Where Gods Live and Men Die does well with this formula, establishing powerful riffs and iterating on them (“Now Here. Nowhere”) or riding the highs of the several mini-climaxes within a track (“As I Lie On the Summit”). Attention must be brought to the soloing of Julio Bórquez, which often borders on cinematic and adds central moments of interest across virtually every track: the instrumental break on “Now Here. Nowhere” is almost mournful and cleverly establishes the ideas in the second half; the repeated solo in “The Hands of Fate Around My Neck” creates an air of unease before exploding into its choruses; and the aggressive soloing that introduces the opening verse of “Envenomed” teeters on face-melting. Tying together the compelling instrumentals are the vocals of Felipe Kutzbach, whose gruff yet operatic timbre is a great springboard for verses to effortlessly roll from section to section. Highlights are found on “The Hands of Fate Around My Neck” and “Envenomed,” where moody verses meld easily into operatic choruses, and “As I Lie On the Summit” provides many interesting detours for Kutzbach’s voice to shine. Despite an overall dour atmosphere, Where Gods Live’s execution makes the experience more fun than anything, leading to songs that feel short and sweet despite their extended songwriting approach.
However, the remainder of Where Gods Live’s runtime exposes faults in Capilla Ardiente’s formula: though most tracks feel short on Where Gods Live, when the execution is improper, songs begin to feel meandering and bloated, and opener “Envenomed” suffers the most from this. While Claudio Botarro’s chunky bass-led motifs work well to centralize the track in its first half, much of the second half features many of the album’s weakest ideas and wanders in a way that simply doesn’t stick, resulting in a mostly aimless experience that fails to capture my attention again until its closing moments. “As I Lie On the Summit,” for example, avoids this by narrowing down the scope of the riffs and making a point to return to its central idea, and despite “Now Here. Nowhere” diverging in its second half, both segments maintain a strong identity through repetition and prevent the track from collapsing in on itself. With a trimmed down runtime or more thoughtful and intentional execution of its core components, the opener could be more fully realized, but as it is, it’s a bit of a sour note to begin an otherwise lovely album.
Where Gods Live and Men Die shows Capilla Ardiente once again indulging in over-the-top epic doom ideas to mostly great success, offering plenty for listeners to sink their teeth into over its extended compositions. Despite slipping into faux pas on occasion through meandering songwriting, Capilla Ardiente maintain an air of camp exuding from both the operatic vocal delivery and from the variety of soloing, showing that they are unafraid to lean into the sensibilities that make epic doom metal so compelling and enjoyable. I wouldn’t mind seeing them explore shorter song lengths in the future, as it may help them avoid the intermittent lack of focus that holds Where Gods Live and Men Die back from greatness.
Recommended Tracks: As I Lie On the Summit, The Hands of Fate Around My Neck, Now Here. Nowhere
You may also like: While Heaven Wept, Spirit Adrift, Marrower
Final verdict: 7/10
Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Facebook | Instagram | Metal-Archives page
Label: High Roller Records – Bandcamp | Facebook | Official Website
Capilla Ardiente is:
– Claudio “Botarrex” Botarro (bass)
– Julio Bórquez (guitars)
– Felipe Plaza Kutzbach (vocals)
– Francisco Aguirre (drums)
– Igor Leiva (guitars)
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