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Centinex > Malleus Maleficarum > Reviews
Centinex - Malleus Maleficarum

Perhaps a hidden influence - 81%

Noktorn, December 28th, 2011

Centinex is a positively maddening band from a historical perspective. With their roots in the early '90s but not getting their career genuinely underway until the mid to late parts of the decade, they seem to have come too late to be formative, and yet traces of this band seem to be all over modern artists. For instance: I had no idea that The Berzerker really owed just about their entire riffing style to this band's mid-era. Much of Vehemence's melodic sense and pacing seems to stem from these Swedes. It goes on and on down the line, with Centinex very rarely getting cited as an influence to anyone, but with the band's tendrils seemingly sneaking into a big chunk of what we hear nowadays in some of extreme metal's biggest names. Undoubtedly, the band occupies a very odd space in the metal scene, never having received the widespread appreciation they probably deserved, and at the same time, never having really pushed the envelope in a way that would earn such praise. I'm inclined to think that, whether consciously known or not, Centinex may have been a great deal more significant than we give them credit for; there's just too much about albums like "Malleus Maleficarum" that seems a pinch ahead of its time or a shade too well-constructed to be simply passed over like so many other '90s releases.

Calling this a pure Swedish death metal album is so reductionist is verges on objectively incorrect. One of the least spoken of elements inherent to Centinex is the obvious, massive black metal influence in their style, which comes out in spades on "Malleus Maleficarum." To define things a bit better, though, what Centinex more genuinely reminds me of is bands like Aeternus: stalwarts of mid-'90s Scandinavia who never felt the need to refine their sound clearly into a death or black metal box after the genres became more stratified. Even the Swedish death metal that understandably forms a major part of this release is utterly hybridized: Stockholm meets Gothenburg, which along with a good chunk of Tampa death metal makes "Malleus Maleficarum" sound like the poppier, more accessible brother of "Spiritually Uncontrolled Art." It's a sort of fusion of Dismember, Dissection, and bits and pieces of Obituary and Autopsy on the more sluggish, doomy end. It goes without saying that the album is pretty varied in its sound, especially with the older death/thrash demo tracks kept on as a bonus, which portrays yet another face for the band.

Due to the multiplicity of available styles, the general structuring of "Malleus Maleficarum" can come off as somewhat haphazard and riff-saladish. Unlike more modern bands with this musical approach, though, instead of drastically changing style from riff to riff, Centinex approaches things in a more narrative fashion, with discrete songwriting blocks dedicated to Gothenburg melodeath, ominous, Emperor-style black metal, or Stockholm trundling, using each stylistic shift as a sort of musical paragraph of its own. This doesn't entirely diminish the quirky, occasionally offputting nature of "In the Nightside Eclipse" placed directly next to "Like An Everflowing Stream," but it does suggest that the band put a great deal more thought into the sort of structuring you see here than is typical. While some of the shifts are jarring, none of the passages themselves are any weaker than others, and when bound together with a fence-straddling but oddly representative production style (nearly identical, especially in guitar tone, to "Death Metal" a year later) the various stylistic juxtapositions are navigated much more cleanly than would be expected.

The band's black metal pedigree is distinct- as distinct as the death metal- and it comes out both thematically in the occult-oriented lyrical topics and musically in the forward-thinking black metal riffing that combines an erudite Emperor style of romantic melody with a stripped-down, punky energy, bringing to mind much later bands like Throndt in their sort of juvenile fervor. When combined with the Gothenburg on display, it's musical candy- the two styles dovetail magnificently, and somewhat unsurprisingly, it's the chunkier, more brooding Stockholm death metal which tends to get left out in the cold more often than not. The oppressive, somewhat doomy strains of Entombed can seem sort of static and lifeless compared to the flying, blast and harmony-oriented extreme metal that defines the rest of the album, and while its inclusion is something of a product of the album's time, it still poses a sort of speedbump for the listener. You've been forewarned. Still, the riffcraft is second to none: a beautiful fusion of the most accessible elements of both black and death metal at the time which makes for ripping and raw yet uniquely appealing and, dare I say, "happy" sounding music despite all its growling vocals and abraded, corrosive guitar tone. Hell, listen to the cock rock solos on songs like "Luciferian Moon" (off the later "Bloodhunt") which set the stage for The Crown years later- they're having fun with what they do.

"Malleus Maleficarum" isn't the band's best album simply because they hadn't yet managed to find their distinct sound- that of a Hypocrisy/Limbonic Art blend with half the pretense- but it's worth investigation for its possibly revelatory position in extreme metal. I'm not sure if I'll ever know whether this band was as big an influence on others as it outwardly appears to be, but there's little doubt in my mind that this and the band's other albums are hidden gems in the Swedish scene. Absolutely worth a purchase, especially considering how cheap the band's discography has become on underground distros.

(Originally written for www.trialbyordeal666.blogspot.com)

Great, great, great!!!!!!!! - 95%

dismember_marcin, April 1st, 2010

CENTINEX truly became one of my favourite bands recently as I discovered their great old demo tapes and debut LP, and all of these recordings managed to give me thrills. I’ve listened to them frequently and enjoyed every tune coming from the speakers. In 1996 American WILD RAGS decided to put out this compilation album, containing CENTINEX third demo “Transcend the Dark Chaos” and some new songs those Swedes have recorded in 1995 in ABYSS Studio, what gives 35 minutes of music all together and can be defined as the second full length.

To put these songs on CD definitely was a great and wise decision as all are difficult to get in original tape versions and such CD is just a wet dream for all maniacs of Swedish death metal. “Malleus Maleficarum” opens with three new tracks that CENTINEX recorded in 1996, when they visited ABYSS Studio. Ah, first they've been recording at SUNLIGHT, then at UNISOUND and finally they moved to Tagtgren’s ABYSS. So these Swedes managed to record their music at three of the most recognisable Swedish metal studios! Quite an achievement, I have to say. To be honest, ABYSS productions are the ones I like least of these three and while listening to “Malleus Maleficarum” I've been reminded why. Even though I always loved HYPOCRISY albums, the sound was sometimes just too sterile, not raw enough – and CENTINEX here on these three tracks sounds much alike and very typical for that studio.

I definitely don’t like the drums most, as they’ve got very unnatural, almost triggered sound – which may be due to the use drum machine. You can easily spot it's the machine playing; in the faster parts especially - and it does annoy me a little. Anyway, music wise CENTINEX again proven to be great band. I don’t know if it’s just fault of the production, but they do remind me HYPOCRISY damn lot here, from their “The Fourth Dimensions” and “Osculum Obscenum” albums – and for the moment in “Upon the Ancient Ground” I can almost smell the DARK FUNERAL (from their first album’s style of course!) vibe! The guitars have the same ride and groove, even vocals remind me those from Peter and Masse Bromberg’s HYPOCRISY albums. Coincidence maybe, who knows, but just I do have such associations. Songs are still killer, not as much melody based as those from “Transcend the Dark Chaos”, more ravaging and aggressive, more pure old school death metal killers, like “Dark Visions”, which is very brutal and uncompromising song. “Upon the Ancient Ground” surely became my favourite, as this track brings great groove, bit of melody and total aggression!

As for the songs from “Transcend the Dark Chaos”, I already described them deeply in other review... They’re stunning Swedish death / black metal tracks, in the vein of DISSECTION, SACRAMENTUM and the likes, delivering both dark and cold melody, aggression and fast tempos in equal measures. CENTINEX has created there one of their best materials and maybe it differs from their earlier recordings, but as overall they shred, fit perfectly with the ABYSS recordings and all complete a stunning album, which is a must for every collector of Swedish death metal.

Oh, by the way.. It may be worth to get the 2003 re-release, as it brings some bonus tracks – DEATH and KREATOR covers, as well as another CENTINEX demo, “Under the Blackened Sky”, what is a massive bonus. This way you may get some extra songs and pay less, as the original WILD RAGS print may be quite expensive nowadays.

Average but quite compact. - 62%

CHRISTI_NS_ANITY8, February 21st, 2008

I believe that Centinex are THE forgotten Swedish death metal group. Active since 1990, they always stayed in a sort of "eternal underground" respect to other bands. Maybe, it’s because they never released a masterpiece in my opinion, but even if they had done it, the things wouldn’t have changed.

They death metal style is a very direct one that sometimes is opened to a more obscure touch in the guitars, almost black metal. The vocals here are quite common, with growls but also a bit too low in tonality. The tempos are very fast, like in the opener and the following “Dark Visions” with some quite good black metal oriented riffs. The drums work is very good, especially during some blast beats and the fast bass drum.

The doomish breaks within more obscure mid paced parts are another characteristic of their sound. “Sorrow Of The Burning Waste” has quite melodic guitar work, more focused on sad side with a great restart in speed. The production changes from the fourth track so here we have a less clear production but definitely more Swedish. Peter Tagtgren is a great producer but in this case has reduced the group's aggressive skill to me.

The music quality is more or less the same, so nothing great, but just quite enjoyable death metal. No standout tracks except for the melodic, speed “Eternal Lies”. All in all, this is a quite average death metal album that doesn’t achieve the goal of being so catchy with memorable songs. Anyway it’s compact and quite obscure.