Of many bands carrying the name Centurion, Poland's death metal troupe is the first one I got to hear. These guys have been around since 1998 in varying line-ups, and 'Serve No One' is the band's second full length album to date.

The name of the game for Warsaw-based Centurion is death metal, served in fast and brutal way. There's absolutely nothing new to be found in this album. Centurion love it fast; most of the material on this album is about blasting, or otherwise fast tempos. The band can conjure some blasphemous and evil riffing and atmosphere. At times, Centurion do sound like Polish equivalent to US evil death metal masters Incantation. Sometimes they raise on groove stakes and might be somewhere near Swedish killers Vomitory. And yeah, the ghost of Vader is lurking in the back, too. Centurion can hit slower tempos, but they don't do much of that. Here lies the issue about 'Serve no One': There is too much of fast tempos abound, and the music does not breathe a lot. Plus, there is not enough of ear-catching riffage, and as the songs aren't very long, not that many parts per song. It mostly feels like it's getting a chokehold of a listener, and won't back off. Some like it that way, I'm absolutely sure. The vocals are able growling, and there's this trendy low/higher duet heard on this album, too.

The energy is well perceptible in the performance. The band surely aren't holding anything back. They really were on an attack mode when recording this album. The balancing of the instruments and vocals in the mix is okay, and nothing gets buried. So, while it is aggressive, it's also easy to find everything in its place. The cover artwork is a collage made in Photoshop I presume, but actually has some taste in it. The lyrics are violently anti-religious and blasphemous, of course.

While Centurion assail like a bunch of bloody-minded enemies of religions, their death metal still misses hooks. Remember that guy in the movie Hellraiser, who gets a load of hooks into his flesh and is slowly ripped apart? Well, with 'Serve No One' Centurion cannot do that, but still do cause some damage. When these guys get to sharpen their blades, the results can be a lot more frenzied.

Rating: 7- (out of 10) ratings explained

Reviewed by Lane
07/12/2012 21:19