Centregaze - Xeno - Album Review - Modern Progressive Metal from Canada
It is a fine Tuesday night around 00:19, and I am on my post-workout pathway walk next to the highway. After spending my last days listening to the debut studio album of a hot prospect that I was introduced to about a year ago and had highly positive opinions of them in my mind. Let’s begin.
CENTREGAZE - Set Sail (Remember) [Lyric Video]
First Listening:
My discovery of Centregaze started and ended with the song called “Kagome Kagome,” which is now the opener of this album. First of all, I would like to say that Xeno is a successful progressive metal album with a personal musical language, supported by good musicianship skills and talent. The entire musical journey of five songs, 31 minutes sounded quite professionally performed, recorded, and produced.
Moreover, Centregaze stands out by their incorporation of progressive metal with death, djent, folk, metalcore, alternative metal, and even punk influences, with a unique twist of Central Asian folklore. While listening to the album with the opener once again after all this time, I remembered mentioning The Hu, even though it does not necessarily represent enough of Centregaze’s personal approach. Nevertheless, this characteristic of theirs has played a significant role in my opinion of them and tastefully continues to do so. I genuinely enjoyed hearing these vibes coming so naturally throughout the album.
Additionally, the album shows so much potential with its craftsmanship, particularly in its compositions. As a songwriter and composer of progressive metal myself, Centregaze rightfully earned my respect and admiration. Each song has a refreshing balance between introducing new elements/influences while maintaining the album concept.
On the other hand, if I were asked to produce their new album (my favorite part lately), I have a few strong feelings that I would suggest working on.
Firstly, regrettably, the album sounded a bit too processed and digitalized to me to the extent that it might sound outdated in time. In this case, I would go ahead and dare them to record such music fully analog, such as in old-school Metallica or in System of a Down records. I am a strong believer in the fact that the more you capture real instrument sounds performed live, the longer the music lives, unlike modern soundscapes just like in Xeno.
Secondly, my suggestion of recording such a talented band in analog might start a new wave that still hasn’t properly reached the mainstream; I am talking about Centregaze’s musical concept, although its similarities.
And lastly, I would suggest that losing the sense of the metronome and focusing on how these compositions would feel when performed live can make significant improvement, similar to what Opeth does/did. Otherwise, it is hard to lose the sense of sounding robotic.
Second Listening:
On my second listening of the album, I started with the second track; The Dreaming City, instead of the first; Kagome Kagome, in order to have a clearer perspective for the rest of the album. The first thing that I realized was of course Centregaze’s introduction of more from their personality, which begins in this very song with heavy folklore influences in their language. This has been in a form in Kagome Kagome which does not necessarily tell you all about this band, and what they are capable of.
The third track; Into the Deeps and its opening part is a fine example of my suggestion of using analog soundscapes with all the air, room, energy, and performances within that happened only on that very day in the recording room. The song opens with a simple yet iconic groovy beat that evoked memories of Metallica, Motorhead, even AC/DC.
The fourth track; Set Sail, I believe consists of Centregaze’s best material. The way they play with acoustic guitars reminded me of Blind Guardian such as the soothing duo vocals brought back memories from the iconic Hansi Kürsch. Nevertheless, the song shows impressive composing example without a doubt. Fascinating guitar and vocal work.
The last song on the album; The Architect, introduces perks that they drew from another iconic progressive pioneer; Tool. At the same time, I also felt the same thing from the subject matter of the album, including a song with the title The Architect as the closure in a heavily progressive album.
On another note though, The Architect ended up being my least favorite in the album for reasons regarding the tracking and production, even though there is nothing poorly done. There are sections with their most submissive side with only bass, drums, and vocals playing a groovy and Tool-inspired music that requires "room" that the song does not have, and regrettably, this feeling closes the album experience for the listener.
In the end, my highly positive opinion of Centregaze hasn’t changed; talented, skilled, and creative duo making badass progressive music, regardless of my subjective opinion on their soundscapes. Xeno is strongly recommended for progressive metal fans. Thank you for reading.
Centregaze on the Web:
Bandcamp New & Notable Dec 13, 2021
