Centinex - Reflections

CENTINEX - Reflections (DIE HARD - CD 1997)

You just had to admire Centinex for being so productive and hardworking band. In the beginning of their career, within only six years since their debut demo, they released their third album! Of course it's damn difficult to maintain the quality with quantity, but with Centinex there's nothing to worry about. Especially that nowadays “Reflections” is being often mentioned as the best Centinex album. Of course, each maniac may – and should – have his own opinion and I do have mine as well. And personally, I prefer the stunning old school rage of “Subconscious Lobotomy” and dark atmosphere of “Malleus Maleficarum” than this third full length. But “Reflections” is still great album and 20 years since its creation, I still enjoy to listen to it. 

I guess the biggest problem of “Reflections” is its rather uninspiring Abyss Studio production – this album just sounds too much like Hypocrisy and hasn’t got that vibe, ferocity and rawness I like in death metal . Guitars tone especially is so typical for Abyss, but for me it lacks aggression and feels little too polished. It's OK for Hypocrisy, but maybe a bit more harshness and filth would do better here. Bass and heaviness are something what I miss here as well. “Reflections” is also another album, where Centinex used drum machine, but that doesn’t disturb me much, I think its sound is OK 

From the other hand Centinex again came up with some very good and memorable tunes, blending death metal aggression and almost black metal atmosphere with many catchy melodies. What’s more, they also added few keyboard-played backgrounds, what gave quite an interesting mood and more epic feeling in some parts of the album, in “Carnal Lust” for instance. It intrigues me how close Centinex is to black metal sometimes. Songs like “Seven Prophecies”, “Before the Dawn” and “Darkside” are its best examples, dangerously getting close to the black metal atmosphere and its hellish speeding form, blending the melody and aggression almost like Necrophobic, Lord Belial, Sacramentum and Dark Funeral – with the exception that Centinex is far more melodic and slower. And still it’s mainly a death metal band! A Swedish death metal band, so the majority of the riffs on “Reflections” is strongly melodic (listen to “Into the Funeral Domain” for instance). The atmosphere is dark and vicious, there’s good diversity in tempos and generally the whole album is just very good to listen to. I like it a lot. Centinex went through several changes of style, have better and worse albums in discography. “Reflections” belongs to their more interesting releases, so try to find it. It may need a reissue though, as it hasn’t had a new CD version since 1997. 

Standout tracks: “Seven Prophecies”, “Darkside” 

Verdict: 75/100