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But both were interested in moving the band towards something that celebrated parts of Mexican culture that they feared were fading from the country’s collective memory.

“We wanted to add these elements to what we already loved to do,” Cipaktli says. “It was metal but with a symphonic background. That was the main idea. Because we have many legends and many stories in the culture, like Day of the Dead and that stuff, we wanted to explore that and put them into songs.”

Which involved exploring both ancient cultures, such as Aztec and Otomi, and traditional sounds. On the band’s 2014 EP, Songs From Anahuac, and their upcoming full-length album, Cem Anahuac, songs are sung in English and Spanish but also more obscure languages such as Zapotec and Nahuatl. They also benefit from musical flourishes on traditional instruments such as the Jarocha harp, marimba and ocarinas.

Cipaktli says it all springs from the band members’ natural curiosity about their own backgrounds. His maternal grandmother hailed from Spain, while his father’s side of the family is Otomi, one of the early Indigenous cultures of Mesoamerica.

“I was always interested in learning,” Cipaktli says. “I was always asking her more and more about that. These cultures are almost forgotten so we needed to do some research.”

Still, while the band may celebrate cultures that are unknown to the majority of Canadian metal fans, Cipaktli 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.

“I’ve always enjoyed live music more than recorded music, I think most people do,” he says. ” I think it has more punch to it, more energy. We are all like, I don’t know, like monkeys jumping around. We have a lot of energy and try to get the people to have the same energy. I think that we get people to feel what we are feeling.”

Cabrakaan will play at Distortion on Feb. 16 with Valfreya, Mongol, Osyron, Forsaken Rite and To the Mountains.