Despite what some outside the scene may think, Doom covers a wide range of sounds and speeds. From the punk tinged angry bark of Saint Vitus, all the way to the near operatic storytelling of Candlemass, there is a wide spectrum. Chile’s own Capilla Ardiente, (Burning Chapel in English, just to annoy those full of religion and lacking in humour), fall solidly at the Candlemass end of that scale, not changing their style to follow fashion on this, their third album, ‘Where Gods Live And Men Die.’
‘Envenomed’ commences the epic journey with an equally epic twelve minute plus length, the twin guitars of Messrs. Borquez and Leiva being ably supported by the pounding rhythm section of Neira and Aguirre, whilst delivering the lyrics of a contempt for religion, and religion’s contempt for mankind is Filipe Kutzbach, his voice cleanly spanning a range of octaves that would have the most powerful of power metal bands seeking him out to front them.
The next leg of the quest is ‘The Hands of Fate Around My Neck’, and again, if you are looking for a thrashing pit, you will not be rewarded in your search, even if the guitars fire out solos that shred with the best. Halfway through the track even wanders into the realms of, dare I say it, the progressive? Harmonised guitars and harmonised vocals wandering towards Queensrÿche territory before being closed out by galloping riffs that would have a NWOBHM purist jumping for joy in their drainpipe jeans.
Worry not though, fans of the monumental, ‘Now Here. Nowhere.’ turns the bombast level up to “heroic” as with boots planted firmly on front of stage monitors Capilla Ardiente deliver a saga of Homeric proportions, and no, I’m not talking about the doughnut obsessed yellow cartoon character. This odyssey is followed by the almost scandalously short ‘As I Lie On The Summit’, this album closer not quite making the ten minute mark, but nevertheless in its breadth and musicianship being every bit the equal of what preceded it, opening with some six string pyrotechnics, before Mr Kutzbach again exercises his clearly well-honed vocal chords with his own display of dramatic virtuosity.
For those who want to bang their heads and pump their fists into the air in a display of metal that is a marathon rather than a sprint, Capilla Ardiente have you covered. Whilst there is no urgency in any of the tracks, there is a crushing inexorability in the delivery of ‘Where Gods Live And Men Die’. The band has inflexibly stuck to what they know and are good at, ignoring any trends or fads, moving forward towards a twenty year anniversary with a clear and firm purpose to deliver Epic Doom with well-deserved capital letters.
(8/10 Spenny)
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