Centinex – Decadence – Prophecies of Cosmic Chaos
With or without a drum machine, Sweden’s Centinex have always been a mainstay of typical, but always well done death metal, bloated by the throes of melody often connected to their country’s metal scene. When the leadoff track, “Arrival of the Spectrum Obscure” erupted with an exacting back beat and overall melodic style that made “Slaughter of the Soul” so influential, I am instantly disappointed with Centinex’s plagiarism of At The Gates. Thankfully, as the album progresses, the ATG similarities die down (especially vocally) as Centinex try their hand at a more subdued, mid-paced delivery. Even though the guitar work is once again excellent as interesting riff struggle to strengthen each track, I can’t help but notice just how tired this band is beginning to sound. A lot of the ideas on this album are not their own and it is this infiltration of outside influences that have made “Decadence” yet another lifeless product from the country of Sweden. With track 7, “Mechanical Future”, the At The Gates-isms return and I can’t help but instantly want to yank this album out of the player. Bottom line… all the technically skilled riff ideas in the world can’t pull this album out of the boredom pile and this was really a surprising conclusion for me to arrive at in light of the quality lurking in Centinex’s catalog. – Marty
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