Centinex – Death In Pieces – Album Review
Artist: Centinex
Album Title: Death In Pieces
Label: Agonia Records
Date of Release: 29 May 2020
Sometimes, I am in the mood for some brutality to bludgeon me into submission. It might be because I’ve had a tough day at work, the kids have wound me up, or maybe because my sports team(s) have lost. Given the current crisis the world is facing, it certainly isn’t the latter that has led me to check out Centinex’s latest offering ‘Death In Pieces’. It isn’t because work is bad either, because I’m currently not working due to the pandemic. So it must be my darling children then? Nope, because I haven’t looked after my two girls today. Ok, so it must be ‘just because’. As the Man of Much Metal, surely I’m entitled to want to partake in a little heavy brutality for no other reason than ‘just because’?
With that sorted, let’s get down to business and delve into album number eleven (third since their reformation in 2014) from the long standing Swedish death metal veterans, shall we?
I could make this the shortest review in history and state that ‘Death In Pieces’ slays everything in its path, end of story. And, given that this album barely lasts 30 minutes, a succinct review like this would be entirely apt. It would also be highly accurate because the ten tracks that makes up ‘Death In Pieces’ do indeed slay everything in their path. So what more is there to say? Well, being the Man of Much Metal (have I mentioned that already?!), I like to go into a little more detail about the music to which I’m listening.
First up, there are literally no surprises to be heard on this latest offering from vocalist Henka Andersson, guitarist Jorgen Kristensen, bassist Martin Schulman, and drummer Florian Rehn. This is no frills, no nonsense death metal done in the style that is loosely known as the ‘Stockholm sound’, where the riff is the king, where groove looms large, where there’s a healthy dash of raw thrash aggression, and where the band simply take no prisoners. Melody? No thanks. Sophistication? No thanks. Variety? Thanks, but no thanks. Instead, from start to finish, it is the kind of bestial music that’ll give your neck one hell of a workout and leave you dangerously close to having symptoms of whiplash.
The pace of the material is generally fast, with plenty of frantic, breakneck (pardon the pun) drumming and muscular bass work to drive the tracks along, providing the framework around which Kristensen can deliver riff after riff, almost entirely of the chunky, chugging variety, albeit surprisingly incisive at the same time. And I enjoy that dirty-meets-sharp style that is deployed here; I’m a sucker for a good riff, however technical or not it may be. And I’m happy to report that the riffs within ‘Death In Pieces’ find favour with me. In fact, it has to be said that all four musicians have come together to create a well-executed and tight-sounding record, with vocalist Henka Andersson sounding particularly venomous, spitting out the lyrics in his deep, gruff manner, with an occasional Tardy twang in places. Come to think of it, ‘Death In Pieces’ could be argued to be a faster Obituary at various points, such is the riff-hungry attack here.
If there is a downside to this kind of music, and therefore the material on ‘Death In Pieces’, it is that it’s like listening to a relentless, unforgiving thirty minute track with only the brief breaks between songs to provide any kind of breather. Whilst I’m listening to this record, I find myself really enjoying it. But, if truth be told, I struggle to remember much of it once it stops. The neck ache is a reminder, but as for the music, it’s a bit of a blur. Indeed, as I was listening earlier in the process, I didn’t even notice that the album was on repeat until I suddenly realised that perhaps I’d slipped into a time warp and was experiencing the longest half an hour of my life. By that time, I’d unwittingly listened nearly twice through without twigging it.
As a result, it is a little pointless to single out specific tracks, although with plenty of repeated spins, the stop-start groove of the final track, ‘Sky Turning Grey’ stands out a little, as does the aggression within the slightly thrashier ‘God Ends Here’, where the speed dial is turned up a notch or three. ‘Tomb Of The Dead’ is a cool track too, that’s just wonderfully sadistic.
There isn’t much else to be said really. You’ll either be a fan of this style of music, or you won’t be. Those that are, will no doubt enjoy much of what’s on offer, particularly existing fans eager to hear more from these guys. If you prefer your metal to be a little more subtle, then I politely suggest you move on. But if you do fall into the category of ‘musical masochist’, then get your ears and your neck around ‘Death In Pieces’ and worship at the altar of Centinex.
The Score of Much Metal: 79%
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lUSzKY4CbgQ&w=560&h=315]
Check out my reviews from 2020 right here:
Haken – Virus
Pile Of Priests – Pile Of Priests
Sorcerer – Lamenting Of The Innocent
Lesoir – Mosaic
Temnein – Tales: Of Humanity And Greed
Caligula’s Horse – Rise Radiant
…And Oceans – Cosmic World Mother
Vader – Solitude In Madness
Shrapnel – Palace For The Insane
Sinisthra – The Broad And Beaten Way
Paradise Lost – Obsidian
Naglfar – Cerecloth
Forgotten Tomb – Nihilistic Estrangement
Winterfylleth – The Reckoning Dawn
Firewind – Firewind
An Autumn For Crippled Children – All Fell Silent, Everything Went Quiet
Havok – V
Helfró – Helfró
Victoria K – Essentia
Cryptex – Once Upon A Time
Thy Despair – The Song Of Desolation
Cirith Ungol – Forever Black
Igorrr – Spirituality and Distortion
Nightwish – Human. II: Nature.
Katatonia – City Burials
Wolfheart – Wolves Of Karelia
Asenblut – Die Wilde Jagd
Nicumo – Inertia
The Black Dahlia Murder – Verminous
Omega Infinity – Solar Spectre
Symbolik – Emergence
Pure Reason Revolution – Eupnea
Irist – Order Of The Mind
Testament – Titans Of Creation
Ilium – Carcinogeist
Dawn Of Ouroboros – The Art Of Morphology
Torchia – The Coven
Novena – Eleventh Hour
Ashes Of Life – Seasons Within
Dynazty – The Dark Delight
Sutrah – Aletheia EP
Welicoruss – Siberian Heathen Horde
Myth Of I – Myth Of I
My Dying Bride – The Ghost Of Orion
Infirmum – Walls Of Sorrow
Inno – The Rain Under
Kvaen – The Funeral Pyre
Mindtech – Omnipresence
Dark Fortress – Spectres From The Old World
The Oneira – Injection
Night Crowned – Impius Viam
Dead Serenity – Beginnings EP
The Night Flight Orchestra – Aeromantic
Deadrisen – Deadrisen
Blaze Of Perdition – The Harrowing Of Hearts
Godsticks – Inescapable
Isle Of The Cross – Excelsis
Demons & Wizards – III
Vredehammer – Viperous
H.E.A.T – H.E.A.T II
Psychotic Waltz – The God-Shaped Void
Into The Open – Destination Eternity
Lunarsea – Earthling/Terrestre
Pure Wrath – The Forlorn Soldier EP
Sylosis – Cycle of Suffering
Sepultura – Quadra
Dyscordia – Delete / Rewrite
Godthrymm – Reflections
On Thorns I Lay – Threnos
God Dethroned – Illuminati
Fragment Soul – A Soul Inhabiting Two Bodies
Mariana Semkina – Sleepwalking
Mini Album Reviews: Moloken, The Driftwood Sign & Midnight
Serenity – The Last Knight
Ihsahn – Telemark EP
Temperance – Viridian
Blasphemer – The Sixth Hour
Deathwhite – Grave Image
Marko Hietala – Pyre Of The Black Heart
SWMM – Trail Of The Fallen
Into Pandemonium – Darkest Rise EP
Bonded – Rest In Violence
Serious Black – Suite 226
Darktribe – Voici L’Homme
Brothers Of Metal – Emblas Saga
A Life Divided – Echoes
Thoughts Factory – Elements
You can also check out my other reviews from previous years right here:
2019 reviews
2018 reviews
2017 reviews
2016 reviews
2015 reviews
