Usually when a project is originally formed with one man (in this case Carson Slovak) as the nucleus, there is a standardized trajectory and definitive sound that guides them throughout their career. Having since mutated into a full band, Century rarely exhibit any hive mind traits.
“Red Giant” is at its heart a musical melting pot of some of metal’s more recent innovators. The group tear through a vitriolic collection of material that doesn’t just run the gamut of discernible influences, so much as it bulldozes right through them.
This onslaught includes the Rage Against The Machine-like riffs and defiant lyrical mentality of “In Hell“; the angular djent of Meshuggah on “Oak God” and the folky aggressive rage of Poison The Well on “My Lexicon“.
The spiritual channeling seems never-ending and also packs moments that bring to mind the likes of Refused, Cave In, The Mars Volta and more. Normally such distinct creative aping would suggest a lack of identity. But the thing about “Red Giant” is that it isn’t the stylistic familiarity that the album particularly excels at. Rather it is the abrasive immediacy and near breakneck pace that it keeps which become its most defining traits.
It’s refreshingly venomous and packed with broad lyrical content and big risks. Take for instance the inclusion of the cameo from Candlebox‘s Kevin Martin on the track “Oak God“. An utterly pugnacious driving riff and bruising rhythm section erupt into a stirring, if not somewhat out of character, melodic interlude from one of radio rocks forgotten sons.
It sounds like creative suicide or some shallow cash in on paper, but in the context of the song and the way it’s approached, it succeeds. Every now and then an album comes around that possesses such a ferocious sense of immediacy and corrosive intent that it becomes more than the sum of its parts. “Red Giant” is likely this years top candidate for being just that.
