Kin

Some albums scream "time to say good-bye" and "Kin" is among these works. Regardless of the quality of the single cuts, the entire full-length spreads an aura of hesitancy, despondency and capitulation. Moreover, already the cover indicates a lack of inspiration. It did not come as a surprise that this was the last full-length of Xentrix for a comparatively long time.

Despite these bad circumstances, the first third of "Kin" leaves a pretty good impression. "The Order of Chaos" kicks off the album, relatively powerless, but with a couple of really effective riffs and licks. Well executed slow motion thrash, so to say. "A Friend to You" and "All Bleed Red" have a darker atmosphere. The double bass comes into play and some tempo changes guarantee a more or less vibrant song structure. Xentrix show that they do not want to give up without a fight and in particular "A Friend to You" deserves a positive valuation. Yet really rapid, vehement or relentless sections are missing and it seems as if the musicians do not exactly know in which direction they want to go. The next piece illustrates their confusion in a painful manner.

"No More Time" is a cheesy, kitschy and agonizingly stupid ballad that tries to attract the attention of the mainstream in an embarrassing manner. It's a ballad by numbers, at first sight very "emotional", but in fact totally soulless, completely predictable and without any individual element at the same time. This piece of shit opens the door to lame metal stuff that follows this despicable ingratiation. All of remaining pieces are faceless, anaemic and anything else but contagious. Apart from the ballad, "See Through You" is the absolute nadir. Foreseeable, without any inspiration, excruciatingly slow - six minutes which try to lead my general affinity for metal ad absurdum. Thank God, the closer shows a more ambitious and belligerent approach while having the function of an alibi for the band with regard to their old fans. It is not an energetic thrasher, but the only track that can hold a candle to the first three pieces. Sad enough.

The addition of a poster to the first edition of the vinyl serves as evidence that the record company and Xentrix aimed high, but these ambitions stood in sharp contrast to musical offerings like "Waiting" or "Come Tomorrow". These titles reflected an almost lackadaisical attitude and stood for harmless, meandering metal that had the character of a phantom. Neither tangible nor leaving a trace, they just passed by. With regard to their thrashing past and their new weakness for commercial success at any cost, the protagonists were stuck between a rock and a hard place. This situation has never been the womb from which great tracks creep out and my consequence was clear: I decided to ignore "Scourge". From this follows that my Xentrix reviews end here. I feel a sense of relief. It's somehow sad to write about a good and talented entity that never exploited its full potential.