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Xentrix > Scourge > Reviews
Xentrix - Scourge

Musical equivalent of putting your dick inside a meat grinder - 0%

Feast for the Damned, May 2nd, 2020

I'll be the first person to admit that I never understood all the hype surrounding Xentrix. They always felt like a slightly improved Metallica. Their debut was forgettable, but the sophomore For Whose Advantage? was rather competent. Their third album, Kin, tends to be overlooked because it was certainly a drop in quality compared to the previous record, but I liked it a lot more than the debut because they were distancing themselves from the Metallica clone label. What's the next logical step in a thrash band's evolution? Dropping the genre entirely just so they can jump on the groove metal bandwagon of course!

The 90s were indeed rather grim for thrash metal thanks to the redneck cousin of my favorite genre founding itself in the spotlight. I firmly believe that the groove metal can be done well, look no further than Exhorder or Overkill, but to this day, no band managed to get even close to those two. That being said, no band has ever executed the "let's rip off Exhorder" formula worse than Xentrix. They were late to the party. By '96, Pantera was already on their downfall, other bands such as the death/thrash titans Demolition Hammer already failed at making groove metal, and hell, even Rob Halford put out two groove metal records with Fight. So tell me, why would anyone make a groove metal album at this point?

Forget that, there is no point in time that would be appropriate for this monstrosity. Sounding boring and uninspired is one thing, not even trying is something completely different though. The entire album is built on the idea that making some STRICTLY mid-tempo, groovy, chug-chug riffs, and trying to force the bass into the most inappropriate places will make the record sound good. It's rather obvious that it doesn't work at all, but they got a new vocalist just in case the previous one could have salvaged something from this garbage. Simon Gordon brings nu-metal and hip-hop to the band instead of some much-needed thrash metal touches. You heard that right, our guy pretty much raps on multiple songs while the band is shitting out generic "dude-bro" riffs. I wish I could at least say that the drums are good, but their existence is barely noticeable and even when they aren't completely suffocated by the guitars' suffering, they are so impactless it makes you think if the guy was even awake while recording.

The horrible tastelessness is apparent right away with the first track, 13 Years. The first 30 seconds lure you in hoping that you might get some good thrash music (that's what happened to me when I went through the band's entire discography for the first time) only to hit you with some down-tuned, sloppy, "stop and go" type of riff, Disturbed-like vocals (yes, I know they weren't around just yet) and the overly loud bass that often just feels like something climbed into your car's block and died there.

Simon's vocal range is about as impressive as the variety of his vocal styles. He either raps or tries to put some "melodies" into the songs with his same dull tone. The title track has him spitting some words with little to no power, but the riff that sounds a lot like something they ripped right off an Overkill song doesn't help it either. Almost every song follows the same pattern riffing wise. The only two songs with some personality are Breathe and Never Be. While the former has listenable instrumentation going for it, the dirty-whinny vocals, with a pseudo-epic chorus drags it down to unenjoyable levels. Never Be has this the other way around resulting in a song just as bad as all the others.

If that wasn't enough, the album is also rather long. 52 minutes spread among 10 songs is painfully generous. Having your average song length be around the 5-minute mark wouldn't be bad, but listening to one repetitive, boring, nu-groove circle jerk for that long is definitely not something I would gladly put myself through. If we take all the little pieces of listenable moments of the album and put it into one track, then we managed to make a 2 minutes long song that you can listen to once, say it wasn't as bad as you thought and forget about it immediately.

Believe it or not, the production is also rather clean and that tells me that they were actually proud of this record and didn't even try to hide it. An interesting choice for sure. I'm not saying that this is the worst record ever created by men, I'm pretty sure there are a handful of nu-metal albums I would hate just as much as I hate this. However, this is definitely the worst album I have sat through. I could probably find more redeeming values in a Machine Head album and that's not an easy task. No wonder the band broke up a year after releasing this album.

There are no highlights on this album for obvious reasons and you shouldn't bother listening to it.

Like a soft slap, definitely not a punch, in yer face - 56%

Lane, February 29th, 2020
Written based on this version: 1996, CD, Heavy Metal Records

'Scourge' is the final record from this now defunct British thrash metal band. I found this last this summer, about six years after its release. How fast does time actually fly?!

After 'Kin' (1992), which happens to be my favourite Xentrix recording, Chris Astley left the band. New voice of the band was Simon Gordon and second guitarist was taken by Andy Rudd. At first, 'Scourge' sounds more simplistic as the previous works from Xentrix. However, more careful and repeated listenings unfold partly rather complex songs. Glad for noticing that, because it felt too one dimensional and unvarying at first. Some riffs are too "American" for their own good, I mean closer to new stuff, like Machine Head and Metallica. The sound is heavy and very organic; I just love that pounding bass, which does its best to squeeze your guts. Some of the songs (e.g. the opener) are a tad too long and there's some uninteresting parts during 52 minutes. 'The Hand That Feeds Itself' has the king melody of this album, easily! Marvellous it is, but sadly this kind of stuff is hardly to be found on any other track. 'Strength of Persuasion' sounds like older Xentrix, but yeah, that's not a lot in album's length. The drumming must be mentioned, because of some inventive (maybe a too strong word) rhythms, like Dennis Gasser is known to do. Solos are good through the record, and these guitar parts, so to say (no vocals, heh).

The vocals remind me of Machine Head's Rob Flynn. Mr. Gordon has higher, less heavy and kinda snarly voice. He throws some Halford style heavy metal vocals in there, too. At first he sounded very annoying, but he gets better on later songs. And my ears start to, if not warm, but accept his voice. He's beginning to sound even a bit individualistic... When he sings more cleanly, he is bloody good, but sadly it doesn't happen but a few times. Still, that rap part on the title track should have been left out for good. "American" stuff strikes again... The lyrics are from real world. Some like it, I wanna skip them. There's too much crap on news anyway.

Not too far from those two Blaze album, mind you. And some more American parts sound a bit like Virus 7, but not that bad. Or Destruction's repulsed (by the band themselves) 1998 album 'The Least Successful Human Cannonball' (which actually packs more energy than this Xentrix platter). This does not astonish but only a few times. This feels of disappointment, but if I've listened to 'Kin' for last 10 years a couple times a year at least, these two aren't on same line, are they?! After 10 or so listenings, 'Scourge' began to unfold and total disappointment began to fade. Let's see how this sounds after ten years...

(Originally written for ArchaicMetallurgy.com in 2002)

A sinking ship strikes the ocean floor - 35%

autothrall, December 14th, 2010

Four years after their departure from the Roadracer/Roadrunner brand, England's Xentrix would take yet another stab at the spotlight, though they'd be doing it without central component Chris Astley, and the sad, sad Scourge would be the result. Though I might be able to sympathize with the fact that the band have at least attempted to write a more captivating, aggressive album than its slothful precursor Kin, I'm afraid that this is not manifest through some wanton return to the band's solid roots in Shattered Existence or For Whose Advantage?, but a sorry stab at groove metal and even at one point, a rappish metal that will truly have you rolling in the aisles with your 'what the fuck' faces on.

I'm not saying that Scourge is devoid of thrash, because through all of this, Krisitian Havard's terse 1988-1990 riffing somehow manages to surface, and the rhythm section of Dennis Gasser and Paul MacKenzie is as punchy and potent as ever (in particular the bass on this album, which pops along unconditionally). The problem is that the songs suck, like some ridiculous disposal area for ideas that should have been left on the studio cutting room floor. A song like "Strength of Persuasion" begins with blistering, interesting melodies and then waylays them for incredibly boorish, big groove metal that even Godsmack might have passed on, while "13 Years" opens with a hostile ambiance and more forgettable grooves in between small spikes of the thrash we once loved. "Never Be" and "Creed" feature laughable, bouncy juggernaut grooves, even though new vocalist Simon Gordon, who does a decent job of remaining in Chris Astley's emotional, Bay Area style snarling territory, turns in a half-decent performance there.

But perhaps the biggest offender is "Caught You Living", a progressive groove metal track in which Gordon actually raps out the verse. Now, say what you will about rap and metal in combination, personally I think it's a solid idea that's never borne truly worthwhile fruit, I've even failed at it myself, but if you're going to go for it, go all out I say. In the case of this track, it's incredibly dorky sounding as Gordon attempts to blend the far too white vocal patterns with the screaming of the bridge, and then when the song actually stays consistent in its new rhythmic structures, it feels like an unwashed stain upon its hide. It's pretty pathetic, and combined with the album's other sour spots, like the airy but empty thrash/ballad "Breathe" that rides out the track list, it makes for what is by far the worst of Xentrix' full-length outputs, making even Kin seem acceptable by comparison. Just another victim of the 90s, and of themselves. Burn after listening.

-autothrall
http://www.fromthedustreturned.com

Not their best...but not bad! - 83%

overkill67, April 18th, 2004

These guys have been gone now, for almost as long as they were around. None of the members to my knowledge have resurfaced in any other groups on any musical collaborations. And thats too bad because these guys were a better than average thrash band. This particular metal offering, known to us as "Scourge" is a great thrash album with lots of chunking guitars...origional sounding vocals and amazing sounding kick drums. All the songs on this album are good to great...the only problem with this album is there is not much of a tempo change. Seriously it almost sounds like this entire album was written without a drummer and only a metornome and a guitar. Yes there are a few double time beats on certain bridge parts to some songs...but overall there is no real double bass asskicking "False Ideals" type songs on this one. That being said though...this album is still a great metal offering and their really isn't much compromise in reference to the thrash metal roots...I recommend this album to anyone who likes the following songs...(you can figure out the artists) Long time dyin', The small hours, 5 minutes alone, Heathen's song...and stuff like that. I dig it and i think that its worth owning!