Centurion: Centurion

Serbia would not be the first country that comes to mind when thinking about metal bands but here is one that I was unfamiliar with until now. The band is Centurion and this is their self tilted debut album released in September of 2019.

There is no doubt the playing throughout their debut is top notch. The guitarist, in particular, shines throughout. The riffs are delivered often and fast, yes there is a bit of wankery here and that may be good or bad depending on your tastes. The band is also able to slow it down, changing the pace so you do get a bit of variation in that regard. The vocals are just okay for me, there is actually nothing wrong with his voice, its actually pretty powerful but because I cannot understand the lyrics it makes it rather difficult. Of course, I realize that is on me. One drawback for me is in the production. I would have liked the drums to be more up front and sometimes the bass is hard to hear. These guys are fine players and should be a little higher in the mix, at least that is how I hear it.

There are twelve tracks clocking in around seventy-six minutes, so yes, this is a very long piece of plastic. For the most part I enjoyed it, I only wish the vocals reeled me in with catchier melodies but maybe that is just the way I hear it. As I said before, he’s a pretty good singer. A couple of tracks I should point out are the fourteen plus minute “Janji�ar� and the eleven plus minute “Čistilište�. The former is quite the epic with highly technical rhythmic changes, excellent guitar work and variations in mood while the latter begins with a lovely acoustic guitar, mixed in with Balkan folk influences. The Balkan influences can certainly be heard often and add a different element to the music. Soon the riffs come in earnest, fast and heavy. Again, a good progressive metal track mixed with Balkan folk elements and heavy metal.

So, overall Centurion makes highly technical and melodic progressive/power/heavy metal that is well worth a listen for fans of heavy music. Especially if non-English lyrics are up your alley.

The Players:
Milos Marjanovic (lead vocals)
Stefan Drogović (bass)
Djordje Lukovic (acoustic guitar on 5,7,8 and 10, classical guitar on 8, ukulele on 8, orchestrations on 10)
Stefan Tomic (acoustic guitar on 10)
Snezana Marjanović (lead vocals on 7)
Djordje Perovic (lead vocals on 9, choir on 9 and 10)
Matija Andjelkovic (piano on 9 and 10)
Aleksandra Milanovic (violin on 9 and 10)
Uros Pekmezovic (trumpet on 9 and 10)
Nemanja Zivanovic (viola on 9 and 10)
Aleksandra Bengin (cello on 9 and 10)
Dusan Mitrovic (orchestrations on 10)
Jovan Jovanovic (choir on 9 and 10)

Track Listing:
1. 6. April 1941
2. Odmazda
3. Ruka Sudbine
4. Hodo�asnik
5. Virtuelno Ognjište
6. Tragedija Genija
7. Janji�ar
8. Asistolija
9. Centurion
10. Čistilište
11. Pomra�enje Uma
12. ∞

Added: April 7th 2021
Reviewer: Jon Neudorf
Score:
Related Link: Band on Facebook
Hits: 1327
Language: english

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