Hyper Martyrium

Be careful what you wish for, I guess. All of us who complain about the glut of the sappy Italian power metal market need to listen to Centvrion to remind ourselves that sometimes formulaic is good. Sure, it’s “different” from a lot of stuff in that it has a much darker edge, bordering on thrash-lite at times. Actually, when all is said and done the music is enjoyable. Unfortunately, any positives on this thing aren’t just outweighed by the negatives, they’re positively crushed to pieces by the one glaring problem – the vocals.

Seriously, the four non-singing members of this band must not have access to the Internet. If they did, they surely would have stumbled across any number of reviews which, just as I’m doing here, explain how terribly everything is ruined by the singer. For Centvrion’s now four album discography this has been the case. Why these guys haven’t kicked Quintaba out of the band, or at least brought in a new singer, is beyond me. If Quintaba’s the main man, I have no idea why these guys haven’t just up and quit. I probably would have long ago.

The problem is that apparently Quintaba wants to come off as this sort of raging madman of a singer with an incredibly powerful voice. Well forget it. The man is simply terrible, ruining what is otherwise a decent album. The Centvrion website speaks of the great reviews these guys have gotten worldwide. I wonder what their sources were, as I don’t think I’ve ever seen a Centvrion review that doesn’t in some way say that Qunitaba all but ruins the whole thing. Some metal can be good in spite of poor vocal work. Not here – Quintaba’s voice is up-front and in your face, a none-too-pleasant experience if you ask me or a lot of other reviewers.

With such wretched vocals there is little point in discussing anything else beyond what was mentioned above. Decent production, solid guitar-work, busy but tight drumming – as I’ve stated numerous times, not a bad album musically. With a different singer we’d have something. Until the band dumps Quintaba, however, I wouldn’t bother with Centvrion. Proceed with great caution.