### The House Of Capricorn: Sign of the cloven hoof

#### 03/11/10 || Trauma

“Wow, these guys sound like they just cleaned up after a hurricane or a major storm and are doing their damnedest to ward off full-on depression.”

Those were my first thoughts after getting into the first proper song with vocals. I sat thinking, “What state could these guys be from? Georgia? Alabama? Nah, who the fuck lives in Alabama anyways? Missouri? I got it, Louisiana!

Well, I was wrong, motherfuckers. Not just by state, but by fucken country. Apparently New Zealand has more going for it than WETA, Peter Jackson, and gorgeous wilderness.

Think detuned and for the most part slow to mid-paced riffing with somewhat monotonous vocals. I think they’re better than Kirk’s in Crowbar, but at the same time I also find them to be the weakest link in this band – think Phil Rind of Sacred Reich with more monotony. Sludgy tunes that would make a NOLA boy happy, except there are no crawdads behind the instruments of this band.

At times you think these guys (and gal) are going to fall into doom territory but they never quite do that as it feels as if they can’t stand the slow tempo for so long. I appreciate that a ton, because if it was all slow meandering riffing I would probably have a fit and not like this as much as I do. You’re definitely going to find some hooks throughout and pretty memorable choruses.

Some examples would be “Crowned & drained”, “Old redhook”, “A candle for the morningstar”, “Sol”, and “Lord of light and pride”. The biggest complaint I have with this album outside of the monotonous vocals is that it could use a bit of trimming on the fat. It’s not terribly long with the longest track being over 6 minutes and two being only ~1 minute, but there’s some cutting that could be done on a few tracks. Forgive me if I can’t recall them, but they’re there.

The album cover is pretty cool, with its aged book-look and goats. Goats are metal as well as being related to the Capricorn sign so it all fits into one simple package. I give this a stamp of approval from me (when I hand out a dildo it’s at least listen-able). It could use a slight bit of work to me, but if you’re heavily into sludgy music you’d feel right at home with these guys.

- Information
- Released: 2010
- Label: Independent
- Website: The House of Capricorn MySpace
- Band
- Marko Pavlovic: vocals
- Scott Bloomfield: guitar
- Ami Holifield: bass
- Michael Rothwell: drums

- Tracklist
- 01. Aurora funeralis
- 02. Crowned & drained
- 03. A devilish manifesto
- 04. Archways
- 05. Old redhook
- 06. A candle for the morningstar
- 07. Hymn
- 08. Sol
- 09. The inveterate
- 10. Lord of light and pride
- 11. Under southern skies
- 12. Claws of fog
- 13. Awakening to shining light