UMUR "Hellbrigade" is the fifth full-length studio album by Swedish death metal act Centinex. The album was released through Repulse Records in August 2000. It´s the successor to "Reborn Through Flames" from July 1998. There have been several lineup changes since the last album and only bassist Martin Schulman and lead guitarist Kenneth Wiklund remain from the lineup who recorded the predecessor. The most significant change compared to "Reborn Through Flames" is however that Centinex has added drummer Kennet Englund to the ranks as the last couple of albums featured drum programming instead of a human drummer.

When that is said it´s actually not the most audible change in the band´s music on "Hellbrigade"...which instead is the slightly more blackened and atmospheric touch to Centinex´s melodic old school death metal which have crept into the band´s music (the vocals are now blackened snarling rather than deep growling). The raw and gritty production values also stand in stark contrast to the clear, defined, and detailed sound production of "Reborn Through Flames", but although it was for once nice to hear Centinex music packed in a professional sounding production, the more savage and raw sounding production on "Hellbrigade" ultimately suits the band´s music better. A 3 - 3.5 star (65%) rating is warranted.

UMUR "Reborn Through Flames" is the fourth full-length studio album by Swedish death metal act Centinex. The album was released through Repulse Records in July 1998. It´s the successor to "Reflections" from February 1997. There have been no linuep changes since the predecessor and Centinex have again opted not to recruit a human drummer. Bassist Martin Schulman have instead programmed the drums.

Stylistically the material on "Reborn Through Flames" pretty much takes off where the melodic old school death metal of "Reflections" ended, so other than a significantly better sounding production job, and maybe slightly more memorable, sharper, and melodic songwriting, "Reborn Through Flames" is in every way possible the natural successor to "Reflections". The higher quality production values unfortunately also makes it more apparent that the drums are programmed, which is a real shame, as it wasn´t an issue at all on "Reflections". It´s not a huge issue though, just an observation, which the reader deserves to know about.

It´s still Dismember which is the greatest influence on Centinex, but I hear other influences here too and a blackened melodic death metal act like Necrophobic could also be mentioned as an influence here. Upon conclusion "Reborn Through Flames" was arguably the best quality release from Centinex up until then. First of all because of the more professional sounding production values (the album was recorded & mixed at Sunlight Studios), but also because the songwriting has become more memorable. The muscianship is strong as ever so a 3 - 3.5 star (65%) rating isn´t all wrong.

UMUR "Reflections" is the third full-length studio album by Swedish death metal act Centinex. The album was released through Emanzipation Productions in February 1997. It´s the successor to "Malleus Maleficarum" from April 1996, so it´s been under a year since the release of the predecessor. Joakim Gustavsson, who played drums on about half the tracks on "Malleus Maleficarum (1996)" has left, and hasn´t been replaced on "Reflections". Instead all drums on the album are programmed by bassist Martin Schulman, who also programmed drums on the tracks on "Malleus Maleficarum (1996)", where Gustavsson didn´t perform.

Stylistically the material on "Reflections" is old school Swedish death metal. It´s Dismember I think about first, but Centinex are generally a bit more melodic. This is not melodeath in any way though, but just melodic inclined old school Swedish death metal. Qualitywise it´s pretty standard fare for the genre and style, and coming out in 1997 it probably didn´t receive that many contemporary praises. By that time Scandinavian metal was either black metal, power metal, or melodeath. Anything old school was at this point considered...well old and outdated.

That doesn´t mean that "Reflections" is not a quality release as it´s both well performed, decently composed, and while not particularly well produced, it features a sound production which suits the material relatively well. So upon conclusion "Reflections" is another middle-of-the road death metal release from Centinex. It´s not bad but it´s not really great either and a 3 star (60%) rating isn´t all wrong.

UMUR "Under the Blackened Sky" is the third demo recording by Swedish death metal act Centinex. The demo was independently released in March 1993 and bridges the gap between the band´s debut full-length studio album "Subconscious Lobotomy" (October 1992, Underground Records) and the July 1994 "Transcend the Dark Chaos" EP. Centinex were initially unable to secure a multi-album deal and therefore they had to start over, recording a new demo after the release of "Subconscious Lobotomy".

Stylistically Centinex had more or less already shed most of their early demo hardcore/grincore influences on "Subconscious Lobotomy" and "Under the Blackened Sky" is also a 100% pure death metal release. At this point they had arguably found the core style they would continue to play for the next many releases. It´s pretty standard quality Swedish death metal and while the demo is both relatively well produced, the material well written, and the musicianship decent, Centinex don´t produced anything here, that you haven´t heard before...both better and more memorable.

When that is said "Under the Blackened Sky" is still a decent quality demo recording and fans of old school Swedish death metal could appreciate it. A 2.5 star (50%) rating is warranted.

UMUR "End of Life" is the second demo recording by Swedish death metal act Centinex. The demo was independently released in July 1991 only four months after the release of the band´s first demo "Stupid Humanity" from March 1991. Three of the four tracks on the 12:04 minutes long demo would be re-recorded and included on Centinex debut full-length studio album "Subconscious Lobotomy" (October 1992, Underground Records).

While Centinex are still strongly influenced by hardcore/grindcore, the material on "End of Life" can now be labelled death metal, which wasn´t the case with the material on "Stupid Humanity". Centinex have increased the length of their tracks which now sound more fully developed than the short bursts of hardcore/grindcore of the first demo. That doesn´t mean that "End of Life" is a perfect death metal demo by any means. In fact it´s a bit sub par to the best contemporary demos, both in terms of songwriting, sound production, and musicianship.

So upon conclusion "End of Life" didn´t exactly put Centinex on the map and the fact that they signed with Underground Records (a very small label only responsible for releasing two albums and a single in their entire lifespan) for the release of their debut album further strengthens my position that Centinex weren´t a particularly prolific act in the early 90s. A 2.5 star (50%) rating is warranted.