2021 CDN Records (CD / Cassette)
BADASS SONG TITLES: Entangled in Entrails, Liquified Rot, Slaves from the Grave
BADASS SHORT DESCRIPTION: Slaves of the chainsaw gods
I've been acquainted with guitarist Mike Bradley for a while, from meeting him at the occasional show when I was in Riphead, and the time we went to see Master and Solstice in 2014 (was it 2014? Wow, time flies.). I never did review anything past the demo material, so I definitely owe him this one! It's a bit of an older album by this point, but it's their newest effort, and still available, so I figured why the fuck not? And now I live in the area, so I figured let's get some hometown boys on this review site!
It's clear from the start that we're getting chainsaw-guitar-sound worship here, and that ain't a bad thing. The HM-2 pedal is to the fuckin' metal, and it makes the guitars heavy as fuck on this album, especially with the simpler riffing style present here, which adds to the guitar sound's effectiveness. This is all in the vein of older Swedish death metal like Entombed, Dismember, Grave, etc. However, this isn't a toss-it-because-I-heard-it-all-before release. No, quite the contrary. They mix in some fierce punk beats and crusty riffs, and combine that with high- and mid-ranged vocals. It's a nice change to hear a band that isn't trying to exactly copy the formula in this style.
Many songs on the record have samples, especially on the first half of the album, and it reminds me slightly of Impetigo or Mortician in this respect, but with shorter sample duration. Only a few bands can get away with three-minute movie samples. I respect that they kept them shorter. Another notable thing is the amount of actual blastbeats on the record, which isn't a usual tactic for worshippers at the Swedish altar. This is likely due to Repulsion being an influence on the band (I feel safe saying that, due to Repulsion once making their home here in/near Detroit). When the blasts hit they're fierce, quick, and punchy, and the crisp snare sound helps that along. There are also solos sprinkled into many of the tracks, always at the right times and the right lengths. The intensity turns up every time one drops its hammer on the listener.
They also saved the absolute best song for last, at least in this reviewer's opinion, in "Slaves from the Grave," which has a badass chunky verse riff, punctuated by a punked up riff that has solos flying over top of it, into a mean-ass black metal-style blast riff. This song has it all, and it's all stuff Centenary is good at doing. It's probably the song I would tell people to listen to if they wanted to know what Centenary is all about.
Get over to CDN Records, you fucks, and buy this goddamn tape, it sounds best in analog! I was a fan of this band before, since I kept track of what they were doing after I lost contact with Mike (I'm still alive, man!), and I'm still a fan now, since they have just become better at what they were doing, release after release. I'll be looking forward to what comes next since it's been almost 4 years since this arrived on the scene!
Bonus points for the Kolchak sample. That's a killer show.
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