Centrifuge - Desolate
Paradise Noise Records

file under Stoner

Menno: Ah, stoner, I love it! Nothing beats dimming the lights, crashing on the couch, cracking a beer, smoking a nice blunt and blasting some fat doom or stoner through the stereo. Especially when I'm talking about the new Centrifuge record. The monster created by this American three-piece is called 'Desolate' and a beast it is! The album consists of five tracks, but still manages to last for almost three quarters of an hour.

It all begins with eleven minutes of crushing doom in the song 'Absence'. It manages to take a minimal amount of riffs and turn them in an epic. 'Slow',' repeat' and 'minimalism' seem to be the key words. Together with the fragile vocals by Todd Fabian (very Ozzy, very good!), this almost creates a spiritual effect. As I'm about to fall a sleep (stoned!) during the second track something wakes me up; out of the blue, Fabian pukes out this insane black metal screech. Fabulous, and with a perfect timing to get the listeners attention back.

Fans of hard and up-tempo stoner/rock like Clutch or Down wouldn't consider Centrifuge as an equal for sure, the music Centrifuge makes is way more straightforward than of the aforementioned. It's far more logical to compare it to, for instance, Black Sabbath or Celtic Frost (with an exception of the vocals). Nevertheless, I'm pretty sure the fans of previously mentioned bands can bring up heaps of respect for Centrifuge's music. Not your average party music but very atmospheric and very, very true and honest. The vocals are just a tad to skimpy for my taste. Fabians voice is very high and thin, just the way the connoisseurs like it, especially because of the 'spacy' mix. Pounding low riffs and dragging drum work produce an immense contrast in the music; I cannot predict the way the listener experiences this but I like it a lot!


Smoke……Rating: 88/100 (details)

http://www.centrifugemusic.tripod.com

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