The return of Centinex hasn’t gotten as much attention as some of the other heavyweights of the genre. Probably due to the more “spotty” track record of the band, they never really stole the spotlight from the “top tier” acts, despite a few glowing efforts (Decadence comes to mind). Through some ups and downs over the years, and in their eight year absence, it can certainly be said that the death metal landscape has changed since their inception in 1990. So is there room for one more death metal band at the table?
While there’s nothing flashy about what Centinex does, they do it well. Despite the push towards the buzzsaw crunch of their early years, ignore the sub-genre labels with this one. Redeeming Filth is death metal, through and through. The real meat and potatoes kind. But don’t expect that that means that there’s little variety. There’s plenty of dynamics amid the tracks, with “When Bodies Are Deformed” starting things out with fanatical speed, but they keep things balanced with more groove-intensive numbers like “Without Motives” and bring it down to an Obituary-esque crawl for “Bloodraze.” Another thing that helps Redeeming Filth is the short run-time. A quick, in and out 32 minute runtime keeps the festivities from outliving their welcome as well as providing a sense of focus for the 10 songs.
With a number of acts “reforming,” it’s good to see that the majority of them are coming back with good reason (and not to just skate by on name alone). Add Centinex to that growing list. Redeeming Filth provides a solid starting point for their second coming and is a solid death metal romp.