Text by Leandro Abrantes and Luis Fernando Ribeiro
It's nothing new that the process of globalization has had its impacts on the world music scene. In heavy metal, which is an extremely global genre, things couldn't be any different, and it's not uncommon nowadays to find musicians of various nationalities performing in bands far from their origins. In Brazil, it's becoming increasingly common for musicians to seek space and greater visibility in heavy metal music scenes that respect and recognize artists of this musical style.
Still, one thing that is definitely not common to see is an entire band formed only by Brazilian musicians coming together outside the country. This is the case of the Luso-Brazilian band Capella , based in Lisbon, Portugal, and formed by the experienced André “Zaza” , who was the guitarist for Andre Matos during his three studio albums and played in Angra before Kiko Loureiro joined the band, Jota Fortinho , vocalist of the Slovakian band Signum Regis , ex- Before Eden and Fortress , Pablo Romeu , guitarist with vast solo experience focused on a fusion sound, Gabriel Carvalho , bassist of Terra Prima , and Fernando Castagna , who was the drummer for Scenes From a Dream , a Dream Theater from São Paulo.
Despite giving the impression of a side project by musicians who have already achieved some recognition with other bands, Capella emerges as the main band of its members, with ambitious aspirations in a work born to shine and be grand, as suggested by the band's name itself, inspired by the star Capella, from the constellation Auriga, one of the brightest stars in the night sky.
With plans to release a five-song EP by the end of the year – already finished but with its premiere postponed due to the Coronavirus pandemic – and a full album next year, the band released the music video for their first single, “Falling Nations,” on their YouTube page this Monday, the 14th. The video features a surprising production by the band themselves, on par with big names in the genre, showcasing their sound and concept with elements of heavy, prog, and power metal to the world.
“Falling Nations” introduces us to a modern band, with its identity already well defined, eager to conquer its space and daring to release a song of more than seven minutes as its first work, giving us an absurdly technical, vigorous and extremely heavy sound, in a first-rate production, showing that Capella is not messing around and promises to become in a short time one of the main bands of its genre, carrying the much-abused but still very powerful flag of Brazil around the world.
The melancholic piano introduction, accompanied by the sequence of images from the music video depicting complete desolation, creates a mournful and dystopian atmosphere, laden with terrifying agony. The choruses, followed by images of a nation in ruins and a completely corrupted people with primitive attitudes, fill the somber atmosphere that the band creates to speak to us about the nefarious times we live in. When the whole band enters, they tear through the dark mood, and the urgency of the theme is reflected in the frenetic rhythm of the composition.
The fast-paced riffs of André “Zaza” and Pablo Romeu are intricate, complex, and utterly technical, creating an almost suffocating sense of panic. The broken, powerful drumming, full of time signatures and counter-time variations, precise fills, and tempo changes by Fernando Castagna, along with frenetic double bass drumming, do justice to their main influence, Mike Portnoy, contributing to the overwhelmingly oppressive feeling of the introduction.
Gabriel Carvalho's bass playing is dense, thunderous, and galloping, brimming with technique and the feeling the musician demonstrates while playing his instrument in the video. The production is crystal clear, leaving nothing superfluous or lacking, and everything is meticulously in its proper place, but without sounding bureaucratic. All of this progressively builds up and prepares the listener to receive Jota Fortinho's powerful and resolute voice, in a proud interpretation, accompanied by backing vocals that provide the necessary support for the vocalist to explore his full vocal range, going from more raspy and aggressive moments to beautiful drives and even some high notes, with absolute mastery of his voice, singing in a tone of venting and contempt about false leaders and prophets with their promises of better days.
The strong, rhythmic refrain seems to gain more emotion and clamor with each repetition, sounding like the distressed cry of a protesting crowd with fists raised, shouting slogans about an imminent and feared end of the line, laden with lies, loneliness, misery, and powerlessness.
Despite the song's urgency and dramatic nature, its entire musical construction unfolds without haste or fads, and with an artistic concern far superior to commercial considerations.
The guitar duets foreshadow the two masterful solos, where the entire band makes room for André and Pablo to take center stage, without holding back, maintaining precise and complex lines, while the guitarists give a masterclass in instrument handling without letting virtuosity overshadow feeling, culminating in an even more fragmented, arpeggiated, complex, and breathtaking ending.
The music video is already available and can be checked out below. The single will soon be released on major streaming services, and it's up to us to wait for the next chapters of this story that is beginning to be written, hoping that the band can maintain the very high level of this first release and that the pandemic will soon be a distant memory, so that we can see the result of all this on the road.
