Whatever your preferred heavy sounds are be it: Stoner, Stoner Doom, Classic Doom, Sludge, Sludge-core, Funeral Doom, Psychedelic, Metal, Epic Doom_and the list could go on for some time, this London based band will cover all your heavy listening needs. Centurions Ghost have yet again unleashed a polished and aggressive anthemic Doom metal album that is not only awesome in it's might and diversity of sounds, it's also damn near impossible to categorize which puts it even higher on my list.
What you get with Blessed and Cursed in Equal Measure is essentially a fusion of melodic and fist clenching aggression ala' Kylesa or High on Fire, Sludge and Sabbath inspired Doom riffs that go from the pace of watching paint dry to full on Crust/Core _chugga chugga? freight train speed and rhythm, metallic virtuosity, and even some psychedelic spacey hints thrown in on _Temple? which is my stand out track so far for that sole reason. There's a small Prog feel in the song patterns but no keyboard overdose and Baroque feel that distracts from the Doom bulldozer that this is, it's just a small dose of say salt and pepper.
The main thing that stands out for me on this one in comparison to their prior works is that it's traded in the slower and more dreary atmospheres for some adrenaline injected tempos and a more _in your face? delivery, but without compromising the slower Doom elements and of course the volume and weight of their prior landmark releases. My guess is that aside from just evolving musically these guys also realized that they are so damn heavy that if they stand in one spot for too long they_ll cave in the Earth underneath them so they decided to add the uppers to keep them moving about. The percussion alone is an elephant stampede for shit's sake, then add in the fact that it's Doom influenced and that means titanic bass toned guitars and riffs of lead.
Clearly these London guys are as scattered in their influences as I am so it results in a solid and unique sound that is as much Doom, Metal, and Sludge with a moderate Hardcore twist that screams _louder, harder, faster, more?!!!!!! Again_whatever your taste is this one will satisfy the appetite well. I_d also go as far as to say that this is my favorite Centurions Ghost release as of yet.
