Labels: Iron Pig
Review by: Kunal Nandi
Call me a twat if you like, in part for churlishly comparing a new band to their previous incarnation, and mostly for flying in the face of popular opinion from both critics and fans alike, but I really, really didn’t like Capricorns. Uninspired melodies pounded out in plodding 4/4 fashion, utterly failing to create any sort of atmosphere or depth, without even some proper heaviness for a bit of gut reaction? No thanks. And it’s not the lack of vocals either; hell, I’ve released entire albums of pure instrumental stoner hardcore so I’m clearly not averse to it. Getting back on track, I didn’t have high hopes for Alabaster Suns, featuring as it does 75% of the final Capricorns line-up, but I’m pleased to say that they at least have a bit more energy about them, with a generally faster tempo and some nicely sporadic use of hoarse vocals, but (and feel free to call me a twat again) I can’t help but feel that seven minute songs are being submitted with three minutes’ worth of ideas, length mistaken for depth, riffs strung out to breaking point, tending to make the songs drift along rather than dragging you kicking and screaming. There are the customary stick-shift changes in structure to keep things interesting, but they are few and far between, with little of the invention or addictiveness of a band like Keelhaul. The drumming too sometimes attains levels of almost Brann “Mastodon” Daillor levels of unnecessary technicality. Or maybe I’m just being a twat.