Liber ZarZax

One thing that has always bothered me about Centurian is their tendency to write mundane lyrics. It would be one thing if they were incapable of doing better, but this just isn't the case. I was able to forgive the whole "blood/death/Hail Satan" theme that ran through their debut album (1997's "Of Purest Fire"), because Centurian had successfully emulated the old-school death metal vibe without sounding overly derivative. But when 1999's "Choronzonic Chaos Gods" rolled around, my expectations ran a little higher. Given its more ominous title, I was hoping for an album that would see Centurian moving in a more conceptual direction. Unfortunately, my assessment was only half correct. While some of the lyrics were decidedly supernatural (in a Lovecraft-ian sense), others had apparently been left over from the previous album. Musically, "Choronzonic Chaos Gods" showed that Centurian had become a tighter and more cohesive unit. In fact, some tracks are still among their fastest to date. Nonetheless, these very same songs were (for the most part) undistinguished and therefore unmemorable.

With "Liber Zar Zax", it seemed that Centurian was making considerable progress. However, this was true only in a musical sense. The lyrics were still sort of....uh, well....just look at the song titles! In all fairness, a couple of tracks ("Dead Black Nucleus" and the title track) show the beginnings of a profound nihilistic slant. Whether or not the band actually realizes this might be a different story, however. Nonetheless, I can appreciate the slight (albeit brief) departure from their previous lyrical exploits.

Moving on to the finer points of this release, I would definitely give an affirmative "hail" to Centurian for cranking out some excellent death metal this time around. Most of the songs on "Liber Zar Zax" should have placed them among such technically-adept acts as Krisiun and Angel Corpse. However, there were plenty of instances where Centurian sets a standard that puts them beyond such categorization. Speed is still a huge factor here, but it is well-tempered with intelligence, melody, and chaos.

The disc kicks off with a speedy ode to the Necronomicon entitled "The Reading (Zarzax Unto Zax)", which serves as a good introduction to the sonic mayhem that awaits. Granted, much of "The Reading..." is played with the same speed and aggression that hundreds of other bands are known for. But when guitarists Rob Oorthuis and Oskar Van Paradijs start trading off their fiendishly demented licks and warped chromatic-scale runs, you begin to realize that Centurian is offering much more than a standard trip through heavily-traveled waters. Another interesting device in the duo's arsenal is their penchant for overlapping solos ("Hell At Last"), which gradually build into a raging sphere of cacophony. As this volatile mixture heats up, the dual vibrato dives and perverse string-play teeter gradually toward that crucial line which separates order and total anarchy. Interestingly, the guitarists usually choose not to cross the threshold, and simply allow their songs to end in a simmering pot of molten chaos.

Of course, soloing rarely accounts for more than 1/4 of a guitarist's output for any given song. What's left are the riffs, which have to be mercilessly heavy in the absence of originality or innovation. The riffs on this album aren't exactly unique, but they are played with enough fervor to satiate the discerning ear. "Colosseum of Blood" and "Speech Of The Serpent" are two characteristic examples, as both display a sound that could easily have come off the fretboard of Trey Azagthoth. However, it took me almost three listens to make the connection. It always seemed that Centurian was striving to distinguish themselves, despite inhabiting a scene that could be a bit thankless at times.