Driving, high-energy, riff-laden Doom is what is in store for anyone who delves into “The Great Work,” the new album from CENTURIONS GHOST. The band takes a more fast-paced approach to their variety of Stoner-influenced Doom then, say, the soul-crushing dirge of bands like ELECTRIC WIZARD. Leads and solos are intercut with the more customary slow-paced genre sounds, creating a good deal of variety for the listener. 

With the enjoyable instrumentation in mind, the vocals are certainly the weak point of the album. The music elicits certain, unmistakable epic qualities and it only seems logical that the vocals should reflect this characteristic. Unfortunately, they are predominately one-dimensional and unsatisfying, keeping the album from reaching its true potential. Still, they are at least appropriate for the genre and manage to avoid being too distracting.   

The dreamy soundscapes contained in the opening minutes of “Black Hearts Will Break” are positively hypnotic, luring the listener to a state of calm before the band brings back their crushing Doom riffs, climaxing in a mixture of screams and fervent soloing. It is quite an experience. This is in contrast to the militaristic stomp heard in the appropriately titled “Walking Through Walls,” a song that certifies the band is as self-assured and confident as an armored tank division. They may be a part of an over-crowed genre, but one would be hard pressed to find a band that rocks in exactly the same way as CENTURIONS GHOST. More importantly, “The Great Work” is just a damn fun record. 

(Online November 3, 2007)