Search - Centurion :: Hyper Martyrium

Chargin Italian Metal Sure To Please Kreator & P.Fear Fans

The Iced Priest | Lackland AFB, Texas USA | 12/29/2002

(3 out of 5 stars)

"First and and foremost this band is not the same group as the Danish death metal band. That would be Centurian with an "a". The guys here are an Italian power metal outfit whose style is best described as a crushing Kreator like assault seasoned with a Primal Fear vocal style. The singer here, Germano Quintaba, definitely sounds like a pissed off Ralf Scheepers but one person I know who listened to the record said his style reminds him more of the singer from Destruction. Coincidentally, Germano throws in a healthy dose of deathmetal growling which makes his style somewhat unique. I'll have to add, though, that the growling is good only in moderation. The guy's vocal range is not meant for deathmetal and noticebly cracks several times when he's goin' from high screams to low growls (which he fortunately understood and put aside for his clean vocal style on 95% of the record).

With the American and European metal industry's current facsination with writing riffs in drop tuning, this record is the first recently released power metal offering (at least that I have heard) entirely in STANDARD TUNING!So for all you technical metalheads, despite the growling don't expect anything D-tuned or lower.At the same time, don't worry because there is NO LOSS for heaviness. Centurion bruises away with that compressed, "rectified" E5 tone that solidified the likes of Testament, Exodus, and justice era Metallica back in the day.

Much of the riffing as portrayed by the 2nd track "Deflagaration Of Violence" is reminicent of Mille Petroza's speedmetal writing during Coma Of Souls era Kreator although Centurion opts for a more steady tempo and definitely lets the crunching stand out. A few nice chromatic leads hinting (title track to be exact)of Morbid Angel influence, show up here and there as well. Unfortunately NOT MUCH on this record, including the cover of Judas Priest's "Riding on the Wind" (which I say the vocalist overdid with his "admirable but no cigar" attempts to reach Halford's peaks) really stands out, even after a few visits to the CD player. All in all however, the record is not bad for a debut and a decent change of pace for any Euro metal collection. Highlights include Talis Pater, Monolithic Triumphator, and the "Gladiator" epic, Call Of The Blood."