Capricorns are essentially a more potent
Pelican. The template is the same -- long, pensive tracks of instrumental metal with big peaks and valleys. However,
Capricorns have better chops, or are at least more willing to use them. The drumming is lively and organic, fueling furious climaxes. "November Suicides" underpins criss-crossing dissonance with rolling, tumbling percussion. "Seventh Child of a Seventh Child" is likewise loose-limbed, lurching into a black metal-esque waltz. Spiraling guitars in "Tempered with the Blood of Beasts" suggest a more relaxed
King Crimson, though crying bends lurk in the background. The band has an impressive ability to shift gears. "Broken Coffin of the Venerable King" breaks into thrashy double-time; "Owing to the Fogs" drops into Mono-esque melancholy. However, it's almost too good at changing directions. Like
Pelican,
Capricorns string together riffs instead of molding them together with transitions. Thus, tracks shapeshift abruptly, and while their parts are often enjoyable, they don't add up to anything cohesive. Ironically, the record's best track is its worst-sounding one, an 11-minute jam recorded to cassette that finds the band dropping compositional intricacies in favor of its strengths: intuition and physicality.