Centinex - Malleus Maleficarum (1996)

   Centinex slightly differed from the long line of old school Swedish death metal bands by their sound, that didn't follow the ordinary "Swedish buzzsaw" tendency. Therefore their music is also easier to distinguish inside the scene.

   On "Malleus Maleficarum" they continued the same line of basic, strongly thrash influenced old school death metal, that could have been heard on "Subconscious Lobotomy".  The second album didn't have even the slightest experimenting ambitions of the debut, therefore it became more unified, but also less diverse at the other hand. By the assistance of the "not buzzsaw-like sound", the homogenous themes resulted a quite monotonous impression. Not if it would be avoidable by the traditional Swedish sound, but without this specific noise-based feature, the whole thing might turn monotonous way sooner for the listener's ears. Nor the sound quality or the artwork haven't been early Centinex's strongest point. The sound was basically the same like at most British death metal bands, and if it's about death metal, this dull sound is definitely the worst possible pick. Because no matter how intense or great the music is, it will always have  a disadvantageous effect, that keeps it powerless and boring. Fortunately however, "Malleus Maleficarum's" 2021 reissue is also a remastered version with a new, way more decent cover design, and both have been able to compensate this problem on some level. In this form the album is more enjoyable, and having a bit higher chance to not disappear or remain unnoticed among the greyness of the countless Swedish death metal albums.