Band:	Ex Deo
Album:	Caligvla
Style:	Symphonic death metal
Release date:	August 31, 2012
Guest review by:	AngelofDeth

01. I, Caligvla
02. The Tiberius Cliff (Exile To Capri)
03. Per Oculos Aquila
04. Divide Et Impera
05. Pollice Verso (Damnatio Ad Bestia)
06. Burned To Serve As Nocturnal Light
07. Teutuborg (Ambush Of Varus)
08. Along The Appian Way
09. Once Were Romans
10. Evocatio: The Temple Of Castor & Pollux

With their first effort, Romulus, the Roman Legion of Ex Deo, sought to conquer the barbarians of the metal community. But their debut became highly controversial, some hailing the conquest as a grand and epic success, still others seeing it as no more than a botched battle plan and imperial propaganda. Nevertheless, while Ex Deo may not have captured the hearts of the barbarians, they had caught their attention and so many prepared themselves for the sophomoric battle to come, enter Caligula.

Alas, through the poor battle leadership of Marizio, Ex Deo tried the same feeble form of attack upon the metal head barbarians and again have failed to conquer the peoples they sought.

With a simple look into their war-tactics one can see why they failed. First off the tempo; their battle charge is much too slow to captivate and thus capture a barbarian. Additionally, the guitar smiths seem to not have been properly trained in the art of guitar warfare. The riffs and leads that should lead the charge into battle are poorly constructed and don't stand a chance against the sounds of their rivals, the highly skilled Germanic and Scandinavian metal platoons.

Furthermore, the war cries are laughable at times as they sound as if they are coming from a general struck ill with dysentery. And lastly the keyboards provide only a vaguely epic backdrop for the rest of the battle equipment and often get lost among the unorganized army formation of sound.

With their numerous shortcomings, Ex Deo has again failed to live up to the epic standards of the Roman Empire. In fact, with Caligula, Ex Deo has seemed to fast forward the entire glory days of Rome and jumped straight into the decline of the empire.