Anchorite – Realm of Ruin Review

By Steel Druhm

2025 has not given me nearly enough epic doom. I need a lot of that stuff to offset my obsession with sub-basement phlegm-death, or my entire equilibrium starts to go pear-shaped and fall off the tracks. Luckily, international collective Anchorite are on the job with their sophomore opus, Realm of Ruin. Using the tried-and-trve sound profile of Candlemass, Solitude Aeturnus, Crypt Sermon, and Sorcerer, all the key landmarks are present, with heavy riffs, powerful vocals, and a sense of melancholy lurking behind the iron fistery. What gives Anchorite a leg up is a sizeable dose of testosterone and machismo in their doom chowder. They borrow from acts like Pale Divine and Argus and aim to kick you in the nether regions even as they harsh your mellow emotionally. Is that the sort of dual-tracked abuse you want from your metal? If so, follow me to the punishment area.

The gates open wide on the opening title track to reveal a powerful, punchy sound with burly riffs pushing the song forward as Leo Stivala (Forsaken, Pagan Altar) delivers manly, rough-hewn bellows and plaintive, somber tones as the moment requires. This is almost like vintage Iced Earth doing epic doom, and honestly, it works pretty damn well. Better still is “The Lighthouse Chronicles,” which takes you on a moody, emotional voyage over 7-plus minutes with hooks deployed expertly along the way to snare your ear. It’s plenty mournful and forlorn, but the epic energy crackles just below the surface and the riffs are meaty and forceful. The chorus is immediately memorable, supported by dour riffing that reeks of Paradise Lost. Add an intriguing midpoint segment that screams introspective Nevermore, and it’s clear Anchorite are onto something. Through it all, Stivala moves adroitly from rougher tones to weepy sadboi wails, convincing at all times. Showing Anchorite’s range, “Devil on the Throne” shifts to muscular, bluesy biker doom like Place of Skulls and Pale Divine. It’s less direct, more classically doomy, and 70s Sabbath jam-intensive. It checks all the boxes, and Stivala once again channels Warrel Dane’s potent spirit to good effect.

If things had slipped a bit on the album’s back half, I’d still be pretty impressed with Realm of Ruin. Instead, you get shellacked by the majesty and might of “The Apostate’s Prayer,” which is half vintage Candlemass, half Sorcerer, and all badass. The guitar work here is stellar, and Stivala ups his game significantly for a vocal tour de force running across misery, grief, and soul-killing inner conflict. His despondent cries of “I have fallen so far” will give you goose bumps and pierce your cold, dead heart. This tune is aces. Closer “Kingdom Undone” is another big moment with a gripping chorus that blends classic metal, doom, and just a hint of power cheese for something extra hooky. It reminds me of the material on Human Fortress’ stellar Defenders of the Crown, but with a melancholic sheen slathered over everything. There are no duds here, and every track brings something interesting to the table, though they don’t all reach the same peaks as the aforementioned highlights. A few tracks suffer from slight bloating around the edges, but at 54 minutes, Realm of Ruin doesn’t feel overlong, nor would I want to see any selections cut.

I’m quite impressed with Leo Stivala’s performance. He mixes forceful Jorn-esque bellows with effectively downcast classic doom singing and switches up his delivery enough to provide surprises and meet the material where it is. He’s got some of the same charm and appeal as Crypt Sermon’s Brooks Wilson, and also reminds one of Robert Lowe (Solitude Aeturnus) at times. Then there are the scattered Warrel Dane bits. Not bad company to find oneself in. Matching Stivala at each step is the guitar work by Martin Andersen. He blends classic heavy metal tropes with all the expected epic doom sounds and brings in touches of power metal to round out the experience. He delivers emotional moments in his solos and harmonies while keeping things heavier than one might expect. Impressive showing in all phases.

Realm of Ruin is one of those albums you enjoy on the first go-through, and with each spin, it reveals more of itself until you’re fully submerged in the band’s craftwork. Anchorite have writing chops, and Realm comes fairly close to reaching the upper levels of doom glory. As it stands, it’s an immersive stroll through the ruins with moments of genuine brilliance and grandeur. I’ll be watching these cats closely because their potential is writ large. A happy surprise and well recommended.

Rating: 3.5/5.0
DR: 8 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Personal Records
Website: facebook.com/anchoritedoom
Releases Worldwide: August 1st, 2025

#2025 #35 #Anchorite #Argus #Aug25 #Candlemass #CryptSermon #DesolateRealm #DoomMetal #EpicDoomMetal #InternationalMetal #PaleDivine #RealmOfRuin #Review #Reviews #SolitudeAeturnus #Sorcerer

🖤 ROUND II - Phase 1 - match 5/27

Which one is the best doom metal album?

🤘 Candlemass, Epicus Doomicus Metallicus, (1986)
or
🤘 Solitude Aeturnus, Beyond the Crimson Horizon, (1992)

➡️See pinned post on profile for the tournament rules

 Please 𝗕𝗢𝗢𝗦𝗧

🎧 YOU ARE STRONGLY ENCOURAGED TO GIVES EACH ALBUM A FRESH LISTEN BEFORE VOTING

#KingusMusicTournaments #MusicTournament #Doom #DoomMetal #KMTPoll #Music #Candlemass #SolitudeAeturnus

🖤 ROUND I - Phase 1 - match 49/50

Which one is the best doom metal album?

🤘 Candlemass, Epicus Doomicus Metallicus, (1986)
or
🤘 Solitude Aeturnus, Into the Depths of Sorrow, (1991)

➡️See pinned post on profile for the tournament rules

 Please 𝗕𝗢𝗢𝗦𝗧

🎧 YOU ARE STRONGLY ENCOURAGED TO GIVES EACH ALBUM A FRESH LISTEN BEFORE VOTING

#KingusMusicTournaments #MusicTournament #Doom #DoomMetal #KMTPoll #Music #Candlemass #SolitudeAeturnus

🖤 ROUND I - Phase 1 - match 45/50

Which one is the best doom metal album?

🤘 King Goat, Conduit, (2016)
or
🤘 Solitude Aeturnus, Beyond the Crimson Horizon, (1992)

➡️See pinned post on profile for the tournament rules

 Please 𝗕𝗢𝗢𝗦𝗧

🎧 YOU ARE STRONGLY ENCOURAGED TO GIVES EACH ALBUM A FRESH LISTEN BEFORE VOTING

#KingusMusicTournaments #MusicTournament #Doom #DoomMetal #KMTPoll #Music #KingGoat #SolitudeAeturnus

Einer meiner absoluten Lieblingssongs: „Scent of Death“ von der Doom-Legende Solitude Aeturnus.

In meinen Augen mit die beste Doom-Band aller Zeiten mit dem begnadeten Sänger Rob Lowe.

Solitude Aeturnus haben nur Klassealben veröffentlicht und sich meistens gesteigert. Um irgendwann festzustellen, dass sie diese Qualität nicht würden halten können und dann auch nichts mehr zu veröffentlichen. Muss man auch erst mal bringen.

Epischer abwechslungsreicher Doom-Metal mit göttlichem Gesang, Tiefe und Melodie en masse.

https://tidal.com/browse/track/72302510?u

#metal #rezensionen #doommetal #solitudeaeturnus #vinyl #music

Don't miss the third full length of the French Doom Metal band, CARCOLH, Twilight Of The Mortals on Sleeping Church Records on February 14th

"For Every Second..." is the first extract :

https://youtu.be/NTlka9yVLcI

#doommetal #newrelease #sleepingchurchrecords #candlemass #cryptsermon #solitudeaeturnus

Capilla Ardiente – Where Gods Live and Men Die Review

By Dolphin Whisperer

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

#2024 #35 #BlazeBayley #Candlemass #CapillaArdiente #ChileanMetal #DoomMetal #EpicDoomMetal #HighRollerRecords #IronMaiden #Oct24 #Procession #ProgressiveDoomMetal #ProgressiveMetal #Review #Reviews #Scald #SolitudeAeturnus #TheSiege #WhereGodsLiveAndMenDie