Originally written by Justin Bean.
Reviewing a band such as Centinex is always a pleasure; it’s damn near a guarantee that I won’t be disappointed with what I hear. I might even thoroughly enjoy it and think it kicks ass. World Declension follows last year’s Decadence – Prophesies of Cosmic Chaos, a stellar work of melodic death metal played with a thrash-conscious attitude. In the past Centinex have proven themselves time and again (this is, by the way, their 8th full-length) but continually found themselves just outside of the radar screen, never quite getting the attention they deserve. If World Declension doesn’t firmly plant these guys in the death metal spotlight, then I don’t know what will.
On World Declension Centinex has dropped (but by no means abandoned) a fair amount of the thrash heard on Prophesies of Cosmic Chaos in favor of a heavier, darker, more death metal sound. Each song still has at least one somewhat thrash-driven riff, but more frequently heard are blast beats and down tuned, grinding guitars. The talent these guys possess is evident at every turn of the album, whether it’s the deadly precision of the drumming or the relentlessly crystal clear guitar work. What little melody there is on World Declension is well concealed by the constant pummel of the guitar, a change from the more melodic approach heard on Prophesies of Cosmic Chaos. Nevertheless, the guitar work is still catchy with no shortage of memorable riffs. One thing that I find distinguishes Centinex from the rest of the melodic death pack is their painfully intense vocals. I’m not sure whether all the vocals are by one singer, or a combination of backing vocals and lead vocals, but their variation and constant ferocity make them something to behold.
Criticism? I have found that when a band moves towards a more death metal sound it sometimes happens that, due to a lack of diversity in the riff and tempo department, songs begin to blur together from sounding too much like one another. As I said above, there are plenty of memorable riffs, solos, and grooves, but songs did have a tendency to blur together in my ears. Another aspect of the album that doesn’t sit entirely well with me is the processed, inorganic sound that characterizes the production. Obviously this is nothing new in the world of death metal, but I enjoyed the less digital sound heard on Prophesies of Cosmic Chaos. The most processed aspect of the recording is the drumming (again, not a surprise for death metal production) but this is something that is easy to look past. Yet despite all this, World Declension is still one of the more consistent and hard-hitting metal albums to come out of Europe in some time. The production does a good job of aiding the band’s sound by being heavier and thicker than anything Centinex has done thus far.
What we have here is a very solid release that will satisfy most fans of Centinex’s previous material. Some people will no doubt lament the smaller role melody plays in the guitar work relative to what was heard on Prophesies of Cosmic Chaos, but most should enjoy this regardless.
