Century - Black Ocean

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After the mediocre meh-fest that was the band “Armsbendback”, singer/songwriter/producer/artist and all around jack of all trades Carson Slovak decided to expand his horizons a bit by delving into a somewhat different genre of music and artistic expression; something a little darker and a bit more edgy than the aforementioned Trustkill Records release he served up back in ‘02/’03. Although many artists/musicians do branch out into unknown territory under the best intentions, they more often than not end up spreading themselves a bit thin and take us poor listeners out in an aural blaze of glory. Thankfully, Slovak seems to have a bit better of a grasp of the concept of “heavy” than many other bands. Bands that are supposed to specialize in “heavy”. I’m not talking about heavy only as in “How many gravity blasts can we jam into this 1 minute song?”, but more as a real portrayal of an emotional concept. I know, sounds cheesy, right? In the case of Century, however, it works quite well.

Somewhat following the staid formulas on their last record “Faith and Failure”, newly signed Prosthetic group “Century” offered the follow-up, “Black Ocean” in April of 2008. Channeling slight tinges of Converge, Scarlet, and Coalesce, “Black Ocean” does one thing that many of the metal/hardcore sound-a-likes of today can’t do: stay interesting for 10 songs. Opening with the track ‘Pantheon’, the listener’s ears are given little time to brace for impact. Songs range from the catchy and somewhat hook-laden (‘Rising Sun’) to the more frantic face-pummeling experienced on ‘Drug Mule’. While there is a bit of deviancy from common music theory, there always seems to be a solid point in nearly every song where the writing comes together. There are some bands where guitar flailing and noodletastic passages make sense, but in a band like Century, some sort of anchor is inevitably needed to keep things flowing the way they should.

“Black Ocean” provides a pretty cohesive metal experience. Definitely a good release for the upcoming summer months and listening to at loud volumes, much to the chagrin of elderly neighbors or dudebros pulling up next to you in their mom’s Mustang at a stop light.

Rating: ****/*****

Favorite Tracks:
Drug Mule
Equus

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I had a chance to talk with Mr. Slovak recently on behalf of VERSUS magazine to ask him a few questions about the band and future plans.

VERSUS: ‘Lo Carson! How be ye?
Carson Slovak: Shiver me timbers aye be splendid matey!

V: I tried to do some research and find some lyrics to do some analyzing, but alas, even the magical interwebs came up lame. Would you say there's an overall theme/concept for Black Ocean or are the topics of the songs dealt with on a song by song basis?
CS: The concept of the album, put quite simply, is human-animal role reversal. The lyrical content also has an overlying karmic vibe. There are portions of the album that are more interpretive and portions that are more literal in their description. For instance, the song “Daylight Algorithm” (which is my personal favorite on the disc) is very matter-of-fact and graphic. That song somewhat sums up the entire concept of the record, and has the most synergy with my intentions for the story. I think that concept albums are hit or miss though. Either they’re done poorly or nobody gets it. But when done well, I am a big fan of a cohesive piece of art as opposed to a collection of cool songs that have little to no relation to each other.

V: “Faith and Failure” got pretty favorable reviews when it was released a few years ago. How do you feel Black Ocean is different (as far as songwriting/overall feel goes), and how do you think it will stack up against the 2006 release?
CS: I think that Faith and Failure is a well-written album, though I think the production on it is inferior to Black Ocean, as it was one of the first recordings I did by myself. But in comparative terms, I just think Black Ocean is different. FaF was simply a collection of our strongest material up to that point and I'm actually surprised it was so critically well-received. On the other hand, Black Ocean is more cohesive and complete in my opinion. I'm not sure how the album will stack up in terms of critical acclaim, but to me it's a natural progression from FaF and much more refined and closer to my intentions for the band.

V: If I remember correctly, you guys did do a handful of shows a short while back, but are there any solid U.S. tour plans or is everything still up in the air?
CS: There are tour plans in the works. Right now we have a short run at the end of May with Time Of Cholera and Pack Of Wolves and we're working on some other cool things for the summer.

V: Century was recently signed to Prosthetic (moving from Tribunal for the last record). From the looks of the label's website it looks like they're really pushing the new record. Would you say they're taking care of you so far?
CS: Most definitely. Those dudes are great and we're 100% on the same page with respect to what our goals for the band are. I have been through the whole process of dealing with a label before and learned a lot of things from it. We were able to come to an agreement and get a deal done very quickly, which was cool. And they are working very hard for us right now and totally living up to our expectations.

V: Just by surfing around your site (carsonslovak.com) and Century’s Myspace page/shirt designs/etc. (myspace.com/century), it seems you have a flair for the visual arts. I know you’ve done work with other bands (both visual and recording at Century Studio(s?)), but is there anything else you’re currently working on?
CS: Design and recording are my two fields of work and they pretty much consume all of my time. My usual day consists of being at the Aurora Films office from 8 or 9am to 5pm and then heading over to the studio for a recording session 5-10pm. I really enjoy both jobs and the developmental process involved. I mostly handle project management and design for Aurora, but I've been doing a lot of freelance work lately (merch, layouts, etc.). In terms of recording, I just finished up with a great new band from Lancaster called This Or The Apocalypse, who just got signed to Lifeforce Records. We spent about a month total on the recording and it smokes. But aside from my two career pursuits, my residual time is spent with my newly pregnant wife, working on home improvement projects and, of course, working on Century.

V: Well, thanks a bunch for your time and good luck with the release.
CS: Thank you very much sir! I really appreciate it.

You can purchase Century-Black Ocean from Merch Direct’s website (http://www.merchdirect.net/Century)
and you can check out Carson’s other work at his personal site (www.carsonslovak.com)