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Capilla Ardiente: The Siege

Heavy Metal

4.0/5.0

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High Roller Records
Words: Craig Hartranft
Added: 04.09.2019 | Released: 13.09.2019

South America is well-known for the diversity of heavy metal in the underground scene. Hailing from Santiago, Chile, traditional metallers Capilla Ardiente (Spanish: burning chapel) returns with their second album The Siege. The album revisits the story and fellow from 2014's Bravery, Truth, And The Endless Darkness. The self-exiled character, living on a remote island, awakes one day to find foreign ships arriving. Wherein he hopes to share mutual stories of surviving the journey across black seas.

Capilla Ardiente

Additionally, Capilla Ardiente suggests that the musical themes of the previous album continue as well. As with me this may be your first experience with the band, and so some clarification is necessary. Capilla Ardiente basically plays old school traditional heavy metal with more than a few influences from epic and doom metal. Think bands such as Candlemass, Solitude Aeturnus, Cirith Ungol, Manilla Road, or more current bands such as Ravensire, Smoulder, or Lunar Shadow.

The Siege contains only four songs, but it's not a short album, certainly not an EP. The songs range from 10 to 13 minutes in length. All the songs have some obvious characteristics: thick and strong guitar riffage, crisp rising guitar solos, steady doomish pacing mixed with moments of rising tempos, heavy bass bound to pounding drum lines, and then clean soaring vocals. With the pacing, riffage, and rhythm section, the arrangements definitely have an epic metal feel. So the arrangements turn upon riffage and tempo with intermittent soaring guitars solos and then, excepting The Spell Of Concealment, some subtle breakdown. With little doubt, Capilla Ardiente follows a familiar pattern in their musical compositions, wherein I was drawn to Julio Borquez fiery guitar work. All in all, if you like your traditional heavy metal a bit more old school and doomish in nature, yet ripping with great guitar solos, you will enjoy Capilla Ardiente's The Siege. Recommended.

Elvenking: Reader Of Runes - Divination

Folk Power Metal

3.5/5.0

My last journey to the elvish kingdom of Italy's Elvenking was 2014's The Pagan Manifesto, a generally pleasing album of their customary folk pagan melodic power metal ... [ Read More ]

Note: All Amazon advertising in this review first benefits the artist, then Craig Hartranft also receives a residual. Click, and thanks for your support.

If you like your traditional heavy metal a bit more old school and doomish in nature, yet ripping with great guitar solos, you will enjoy Capilla Ardiente's The Siege. Recommended.

Alphabetical Index

The Powell Payne project, created in 2022 is the collaboration of Mark "Penfold Powell (ex-drummer of Psycho Kiss) and Adam Payne (former vocalist of Airrace). With guitarist Adam Davies and keyboard player ... [ Read More ]