Review of Century - Faith & Failure

I like this record. I like this record a lot. I want to date this record. After flirting with their self released EP, I want to take it to the next level and get into a serious relationship, But then when I get this record home, I’m going to get freaky wid it; cover it in brown gravy, dress it up like my mom and spank it silly. Yes it’s that good of a record.

OK Seriously, after their EP got them signed to Tribunal I was really looking forward to a debut album from Carson Slovak’s (Armsbendback) new band, and folks, its pretty amazing.

I still stand by the description I used for my review of their EP as there is still a thick bluesy rock n roll vibe of late Gorefest (especially the opening of album opener “Obsolescence”) meets the ebbing, post hardcore Isis undercurrent (i.e. “The Last Neighborhood in America”, the vibrant “Kingsnake”), but with 10 full (including 3 from the EP) songs to absorb I thinks there’s some Mastodon, Eyes of Fire and Swarm of the Lotus in there in the form of some monstrously angular, mountainous riffage (i.e. “Bilateral Consequence”, “Maneater”).

The thing is with this record, despite residing clearly in a style that’s become common place, Century’s song writing is clearly outside the box, inventive and unpredictable as well as laden with a surprising amount of melodic depth. The blustery “A Threat, Conquistador” lurches with choppy but down tuned tech structures, while the lumbering yet rocking “Back into the Woodwork” strides with purposeful pacing. Then you’ve got a track like the dramatic and melodically heaving “The Last Neighborhood in America”, and then the standout from the EP, the brilliant hued “The Fate of Arbogast” with its stunningly layered climax.

Carson Slovak has a unique gravelly growl for the genre and often has some spoken word/samples in the background and his production is thick yet not over produced. The packaging and artwork, as with the EP is superb. You even get desktops and screen savers of the artwork (along with videos of “Obsolescence” and “The Fate of Arbogast” on this enhanced CD). However, all is not quite perfect; “Lungs of the Ocean” is the albums glaring misstep and personally, I think the album is too short, and a band with Century’s skill cries for a 7-10 minute epic track. But none of that keeps this from being one of my favorite albums of this short year so far.

Now you must excuse me, the gravy calls.

Release Details

Century

Faith & Failure

Comments

Related