EPK – Cabrakaän- Aztlán (2023)

“CABRAKAÄN has released an amazing, fun, well-written album with influences from various folk styles aligned with Death Metal. It’s definitely one of the best releases of the year in the style and the band deserves all the attention they are getting from the media and the public. 10/10” – Metal Temple (review 2019 – Cem Anahuac My Home)

“While the band may celebrate cultures that are unknown to most Canadian metal fans, Cipäktli says live performances by Cabrakaan are an immersive experience. The band, who wear face paint and costumes to conjure up the “time of the Aztecs,” like to give audiences both a visual and sonic feast.”

-Calgary Herald: “Symphonic Metal Band Cabrakaän Brings Spirit Of Ancient Mexico To Calgary”

“The use of traditional, lesser-known instruments that rarely leave Central/South America jamming along with metal instruments – in a way that would make Ozzy Osbourne in his prime proud – is the last thing Calgary expected to experience, and yet Cabrakaän is here.”

– Calgary Journal: “Cabrakaän, Calgary’s friendly neighbourhood Mexican folk metal fusion band”

“Cabrakaan Mesmerize the Crowd” – The Phoenix (Kelowna)

Album Credits:
– Produced by Marko Cipäktli and Cody Anstey
– All songs mixed by Cody Anstey at Clarity Recording & Mixing (Osyron, Ravenous E.H., Wu-Tang Clan)
– All songs mastered by Mika Jussila at Finnvox Studios (Nightwish, Children of Bodom, Amorphis)
– All lyrics by Pat Cuikani & Marko Cipäktli
– Member of SOCAN- MAPL

Album Band Line-up:
Pat Cuikani, Vocals
Marko Cipäktli, Drums & Rough Vocals
Alex Navarro, Lead Guitar, Rhythm Guitar
David Saldarriaga Tobón – Bass, Classical Guitar

Live Band Line-up:
Pat Cuikani, Vocals
Marko Cipäktli, Drums & Rough Vocals
Alex Navarro, Lead Guitar
Brendan Wilkinson, Rhythm Guitar
David Saldarriaga Tobón – Bass, Classical Guitar

Aztlán tells different stories from Mexican history, as you will see in the lyrics and track listing. This theme plays a role in both the lyrics and the music – it’s when they’re put together that the album truly becomes something special. Musically, there are many complex elements and a lot of styles are incorporated, and this represents how many influences make up who we are. Percussion is one of civilization’s first musical instruments, so we spent a lot of time incorporating different styles that helped tell the story. We also incorporated a lot of orchestration including a live string ensemble, organs, traditional Mexican folk styles, and more to truly bring the music to life.

Track by Track:

1. Intro (Tonantzín)
The album begins with an introductory song, alternatively titled Tonantzín. Tonantzín is a Nahuatl (indigenous Aztec language) word: to – “our”, nān- “mother”, tzin = honorific suffix. It’s a term often used when referring to a respected woman. In this case, Tonantzín is Mother Earth and represents the spirit and soul of our land. The track produces a peaceful atmosphere with creative percussive elements, a live string ensemble, and an emotive story through sound.

2. Fuego
Fuego is a story about premonitions and nightmares that were experienced by Aztec people about the Spanish conquest. It is based on the “First Bad Omen” of 7 that happened in the decade before the Spaniards’ arrival in 1521. In this omen, there was a fire that burned in the sky every night for a year, shaped in a way that made the sky look like it was bleeding. Musically, it is hard-hitting, melancholic, dark, and energetic all at once.

3. Luces y Sombras (English title: Shadows)
This song is about the atrocities committed by the Catholic Church committed against indigenous people in Mexico, and the efforts taken to erase pre-Hispanic belief systems, cultures, and ways of being. The creation of this song included a guest musician who performed church organs on location at a historic cathedral in Calgary, Canada. The song itself engages with a topic often seen as taboo in Mexican society today and makes an important statement about remembering their cultural history. Musically, this song evokes all the feelings we have about this topic through grand dramatic instrumentation.

4. La Cigarra
This song is a cover of a traditional mariachi song by Raymundo Pérez Soto. The lyrics represent the feelings that an artist has whenever they sing. Their love of singing is so powerful that they are willing to die for it, just like the cicada (cigarra). The song features guest vocalist Reed Alton of melodic metal band Osyron performing a verse and some harmonies, and a guest violinist James Watson. As in the original, it’s vocally powerful – but with a distinctive metal turn.

5. Malintzin (English title: Blinded)
Malintzin is about the concept of “malinchismo”, which refers to people who deny their cultural roots when assimilating into a new country and culture like the United States or Canada. The band wrote this song in reference to Mexicans who do this when they migrate, adopting a “new” citizenship. The band members conceptualized this song from their immigration experience after moving to Canada. The song fuses together orchestral, tribal, and metal elements.

6.  Mictlán (pronounced mickt-lahn)
In Aztec mythology, Mictlán is the underworld and contains nine distinct levels through which the dead must overcome a series of challenges before reaching their final resting place. This song is about those levels and the tests that need to be passed in order to reach Mictlantecuhtli, the god of the dead, who allows the dead to be at rest. Musically, the song features nylon string instruments to emulate the sound of a vihuela (Spanish guitar), hompak (Mayan trumpet), and orchestral arrangements.

7. Tlaloc (pronounced tlah-lock)
Tlaloc is a song about the constant battles between civilizations for power. Tlaloc, in many ancient pre-hispanic civilizations, is the god of rain and thunder. In this song, the civilizations are battling one another in competition for respect, gifts of rain, and, fertile land for their survival. The battles are happening before his eyes. The song features an unexpected combination of Spanish guitar, choirs, growls, and atmospheric sounds that will transport the listener to an ancient civilization.

8. Yolot (pronounced yo-loteThis song depicts a love story between a Spanish soldier and an indigenous woman. Yolotl was the name of the woman. Yolotl is a Nahuatl word for “heart”. Yolotl features a string ensemble (violin, viola, and cello) to help tell the story.

9. Xochitl (pronounced show-cheetle)
This is a Nahuatl song about eternal love. The band has adapted the love song to be a lullaby. Xochitl was recorded as an acoustic, ‘unplugged’ song to evoke the emotions that it contains. The song is dedicated to Marko’s late mother.

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Photo Credit – Angela Ambrose – ​Lunar Ring Sound & Graphics Inc.

“I met Paty when I owned my studio in Toluca (Mex), and she was playing in a symphonic/ choral metal band. Originally, I wanted to make death metal. That was my main goal.”, Cipäktli explained.

“We started talking. She told me: ‘I’ve always wanted to do something using pre-hispanic elements’, and she knew someone who was interested in creating a style like this.” – that someone was Ramón, who became the band’s first rhythm guitarist. “

The band’s sound and style were initially influenced by popular metal acts like Nightwish, Amon Amarth, and European folk metal bands. Soon after, the band established a distinct sound, style, and ambition to tell the forgotten pre-hispanic folk stories, mythologies, histories, and traditions of Mexico’s sociocultural past and present. They continue to work with indigenous Mexican artists to incorporate authentic prehispanic instruments like ocarinas, flutes, percussion instruments, and more in their music. Their lyrics are sung in English, Spanish, Zapoteco, Nahuatl, and other ancient languages.

In 2014, the band made their debut with the EP “Songs From Anahuac” and displayed a mix of death, folk, and symphonic European influences with Prehispanic instruments along with storytelling of Mesoamerican mythologies (Aztec, Mayan, Tlaxcaltecan, Olmecan) plus Mexican folklore such as La Llorona, La Bruja, Day of The Dead.

In 2017, the band was invited to Metalocalypstick Fest in Lone Butte, BC where the beauty of the Canadian Rockies won them over and encouraged them to make the grand decision to relocate to Canada. They have now called Canada home since 2018, trading the heat and the beach for the cold and natural beauty of the great north.

Settled in Canada, Cabrakaän released their sophomore effort “Cem Anahuac My Home” in 2019 continuing their storytelling of Mesoamerican tales. The word Cem Anahuac means literally land surrounded by water in Nhuatl, and that’s what their Aztec ancestors used to call the Valley of Mexico before the Spanish invasion.

“Our past reflects a lot of our present and Cem Anahuac is in the heart of Mexicans since we are born, that’s the message behind the record.”

Now in 2023, post-COVID, the band is able to continue to release new music and tour the Canadian north again. The band has their sights set on sharing their first full-length and 3rd studio recording “Aztlán” this coming November.

Cabrakaän hopes to give their listeners an immersive experience that draws them into a different world. Their ultimate goal is to share themselves and a piece of their culture. Their music’s fusion of multiple genres is representative of the cultural fusion that they evoke in lyrical and musical themes.

The theme of “Aztlán” is centered on the Spanish conquest – colonization and the defeat of Mexico’s Aztec empire, Tenochtitlán. Some songs chronicle stories from before the Spaniards’ arrival in Mesoamerica, and others draw on their rich culture that transformed from centuries of cultural fusion, which makes them who they are. In Mictlán, for example, they share the Aztec myth of the underworld. In this myth, there are nine levels to reach Mictlán. There are also nine main tracks on the album as an homage to this myth.

For “Aztlán”, band founder and drummer Marko Cipäktli developed orchestral elements and arrangements with the audience in mind.

“I want them to feel the message through the music, and that is the purpose of the orchestration. Orchestration always adds a different atmosphere and a layer of emotion for the listener to feel and gain something valuable from – strings, brass, and so on – to make people feel and experience what the musicians want them to”.

Pre-hispanic instruments are a huge part of it, but the orchestration in the music will help to translate the song’s intended meaning into an emotive experience for the listener.

Audiences can expect to hear a mature, grander version of Cabrakaän’s familiar sound that interweaves metal with symphonic and folk elements.  They believe that, even though their lyrics are in multiple languages, audiences of all linguistic backgrounds will hear their stories through the music itself. They hope their Mexican fans will hear this album and feel represented along with everyone else who enjoys learning about our culture and history through the power of metal!

“Aztlán” is due out November 17, 2023.

Album Band Line-up:
Pat Cuikani, Vocals
Marko Cipäktli, Drums & Rough Vocals
Alex Navarro, Lead Guitar, Rhythm Guitar
David Saldarriaga Tobón – Bass, Acoustic Guitar

Live Band Line-up:
Pat Cuikani, Vocals
Marko Cipäktli, Drums & Rough Vocals
Alex Navarro, Lead Guitar
Brendan Wilkinson, Rhythm Guitar
David Saldarriaga Tobón

Discography:
2023 – Aztlán
2019 – Cem Anahuac My Home
2014 – Songs from Anahuac

Members of Cabrakaän have shared the stage with Timo Tolkki (ex-Stratovarius), Sonata Arctica, and performed at Mexico’s monolithic metal festival, Heaven and Hell Festival.

Tours and Festivals:
2020 – Loud as Hell Fest – Drumheller, AB
2018 – March of the Frozen North (BC, AB, SK)
2017 – Metalokalypstick Fest, Lone Butte, BC