ninehertz

It's quickly discernible what to expect upon pressing play - Center of the Earth align themselves unwaveringly to the twin masts of stoner and doom, and the artwork, song lengths (just two songs, more than twenty minutes total), titles, lyrics - you name it and it'll be present largely as you imagine it.

This is big booming doom as we all know and love; nothing new, cliché ridden but its commitment to the template washes away the majority of concerns, particularly when you get caught up in it mid-flow. It has a natural inclination toward Slomatics-style vibes burning brightly throughout, but the primary well of spiritual influence I think is clear. This whole release is beholden to the lore of Sleep, an admirable necessity to forge further the combination of weed and riffs as laid down in the Dopesmoker bible.

The lyrics on side A's Slope Dealer are the best case in point, telling the story depicted in the cover art - "Hill Giant on the crossroad, beckons me towards the valley, I ask him what am I to find ... he said, Lo' and behold a sea of green". And try as I might, it's hard not to be intoxicated by its suspiciously green cloud covered spell, especially when it is aligned to the slightly mystical, increasingly thick doom riffs that spread themselves liberally across its girth, like some hybrid of Slabdragger and early album High on Fire.

Black Knight Sattelite is on the reverse, and as I'm reading the lyrics I realise I'm doing so in the guise of Om vocal style, and maybe there is a smidgeon of drone going on here, but likely just merely my own projection. It is slower, dragging itself forwards reluctantly, it's still in the Sleep-sphere, and it sounds appropriately massive.

There are times across the release when your unwitting main experience is spot the trope and the influence, but even during these phases, all it does is raise a smile. This is doom, in its simple and direct form, a devotion to the theme, and almost impossible not to warm to.