''Caligvla'' is the second album released by

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

death metal Death metal is an extreme metal, extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. It typically employs heavily distorted and low-tuned guitars, played with techniques such as palm muting and tremolo picking; deep death growl, growling vocals; aggressive ...

band

Ex Deo Ex Deo is a Canadian death metal band formed in Montreal, Quebec in 2008. The band is a side project of Kataklysm frontman Maurizio Iacono, and is based on the history of the Roman Empire. History Ex Deo was formed in 2008 as an artistic proj ...

, on 31 August 2012. The album title refers to

Caligula Gaius Caesar Augustus Germanicus (31 August 12 – 24 January 41), also called Gaius and Caligula (), was Roman emperor from AD 37 until his assassination in 41. He was the son of the Roman general Germanicus and Augustus' granddaughter Ag ...

, the third emperor of

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

known for his cruelty, sadism, extravagance, and intense personal insanity.

Release

Ex Deo first announced its second album on 19 August 2010 through their

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page. They mentioned the writing process would begin in late 2011. On 14 October 2010 the band revealed the new album's title ''Caligula'', which would later be changed to ''Caligvla''. On 16 April 2011 the band announced would take longer than initially expected. On 28 September 2011, an announcement was made that the album would be released on 31 August 2012, which would also mark Caligula's 2000th anniversary. In November 2011, the band began to record for the album. On 4 February 2012 Maurizio posted a studio update that most of the symphonies and orchestral parts were done. He also mentioned that the process of creating the album would take a lot of time and would possibly interfere with their Paganfest tour. The band cancelled their appearance at "Paganfest America Part III" a few days later.Ex Deo: 'Caligvla' Track Listing Revealed - Blabbermouth.net
/ref> Iacono commented on the cancellation: On 16 February 2012 Maurizio started recording his vocals which would be finished by 21 February. In March 2012 the band revealed the final track listing of ''Caligvla'' and also announced they began mixing the album. On 23 March 2012, the band revealed the guest appearances on ''Caligvla'', which would involve Seth Siro (

Septic Flesh Septicflesh (formerly known as Septic Flesh) are a Greek death metal band from Athens, founded in 1990. History Septicflesh were formed in Athens in March 1990 by Sotiris Vayenas (guitar), Spiros Antoniou (bass and vocals), and Christos Anto ...

Mariangela Demurtas Tristania was a Norwegian gothic metal band formed in 1996 by Morten Veland, Einar Moen and Kenneth Olsson. Tristania's music is usually classified as Gothic metal with death influences, due to its strong tie and legacy within the gothic metal h ...

( Tristania), Stefano Fiori (

Graveworm Graveworm is an Italian extreme metal band from Bruneck, Brunico formed in 1992. History Before Graveworm even released a demo, they were signed by Serenades Records after a performance close to their hometown of Brunico, northern Italy. Gravew ...

) and Francesco Artusato (

All Shall Perish All Shall Perish is an American deathcore band from Oakland, California, formed in 2002. The band was signed to Nuclear Blast and have released four full-length albums through the label. Their latest album, ''This Is Where It Ends,'' was release ...

). The band unveiled the album cover artwork for ''Caligvla'' on 15 April 2012. In June 2012, the band announced a video for the song ''I, Caligvla'', featuring Maurizio's girlfriend and

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

n model Suzzy. On 27 July 2012 they uploaded the new video for ''I, Caligvla'' on

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

Reception

MetalStorm rated it 7.9/10. MetalSucks gave it 3.5/5.0 horns. The Encyclopaedia Metallum currently has an average rating of 83% approval.Ex Deo - Caligvla - Encyclopaedia Metallum: The Metal Archives
/ref> Metal Underground gave it five skulls, indicating that it was "Perfection. (No discernable flaws; one of the reviewer's all-time favorites)" Angry Metal Guy gave the album a 'very good' rating of 3.5/5.0 with the epithet "Move over, vest metal, make room for Chest Plate Metal!"Ex Deo - Caligvla Review , Angry Metal Guy
/ref>

Track listing

Notes

# A

video Video is an Electronics, electronic medium for the recording, copying, playback, broadcasting, and display of moving picture, moving image, visual Media (communication), media. Video was first developed for mechanical television systems, whi ...

for the title-track ''I, Caligvla'' was shot.

Personnel

;Ex DeoCaligvla - Ex Deo , Credits , AllMusic
/ref> *

Maurizio Iacono Kataklysm is a Canadian death metal band. As of 2024, they have released fifteen studio albums, two EPs, and two DVDs. Kataklysm received their first Juno Award (the Canadian equivalent of the Grammy Awards, Grammy) for Best Album of the Yea ...

– vocals, composer, executive Producer, lyricist, producer *Stéphane Barbe – lead guitar * Jean-Francois Dagenais – rhythm guitar, engineer, producer *Dano Apekian – bass guitar *Jonathan Lefrancois-Leduc – keyboards, orchestration *Max Duhamel – drums ;Additional musicians *Seth Siro Anton – vocals, cover art, cover layout *Stegano Fiori – vocals *

– vocals *Francesco Artusato – guitar, soloist ;Technical personnel *Jason Messer – band photo

Trivia

The intro to 'Once Were Romans' is taken from the historical drama TV series ''

''.

References

{{Authority control 2012 albums Ex Deo albums Albums with cover art by Spiros Antoniou