CAPILLA ARDIENTE is a traditional sounding Doom band from Chile with a very fitting name for a Doom Metal band: it means "burning chapel" which is an image that evokes feelings of sadness and anger, bleakness and bitterness in me - just like their musical style of choice. Their history goes back to 2006, just before the Stoner/Doom "renaissance" picked up in the 2010s. Although I'm a fan of the old-school Doom Metal sound, and this band makes some very high quality music, I've never heard of them, nor have I heard of PROCESSION, with whom they share some members. In case of CAPILLA ARDIENTE it might be partially due to the long breaks between releases, but in the case of the latter, which is also CAPPILA's label mate, that can't be the case. Perhaps it is harder for a band that doesn't come from a hotbed of Metal to build up a following even though they are on par with bands much more famous then them - I've seen that in a few cases. Be it as it may, they seem to be a bunch of interesting dudes, who have good things going on for them when it comes to music, particularly their singer Felipe P. Kuzbach has an interesting bio - he plays guitar in NIFELHEIM, bass in DESTROYER 666 and newly has gigs as live vocalist for the iconic British band SOLSTICE and legendary Russian band SCALD (a criminally underrated band that would be world famous if they came from Sweden or a place like that).

"The Siege" is the band's second album released by High Roller Records. CAPILLA ARDIENTE have a dark and epic sound similar to bands like CANDLEMASS or SOLITUDE AETERNUS, the songs that they present on "The Siege" are pretty expansive - the album consists of four long songs, two of which are just under nine minutes and two over thirteen minutes long. "The Open Arms, The Open Wounds" opens with a mournful guitar melody followed by an intro with a big riff and slick harmonies. The verse has a ballsy, mid-tempo groove, the mournful chorus, on the other hand is, slower, softer but powerful. The song has a longer atmospheric middle section with a mournful bass melody, followed by a compositional shift that brings a bit of a more relaxed vibe to the song before the return of the oppressive vibe of the chorus that finishes the song. The second track "The Crimson Fortress" also has a driving, heavy, very headbangable chorus and a big emotional chorus, the third song "The Spell of Concealment," on the other, has a plodding verse and picks up more intensity in the pre-chorus. The closer, "Fallen Alphas and the Rising," has a really epic, soaring chorus and a climactic ending.

"The Siege" is a very enjoyable release: the songs have great hooks and the band has enough good ideas to write complex songs that don't lack focus. The guitar work stands out - the playing is intricate and harmonious, the songs don't lack memorable leads and solos, Felipe Kunzbach's vocals are resonant and commanding, they fit this style perfectly. This year has been pretty good for Doom Metal with icons of the genre like CANDLEMASS, LORD VICAR and ISOLE dropping releases, and more albums from rising stars of the genre ATLANTEAN KODEX and CRYPT SERMON are about to come out (or just came), but "The Siege" holds up, in my opinion it can be counted among this years best traditional Doom Metal releases.