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XENTRIX - SCOURGE (1996)
Xentrix where one of those bands that kept on thrashing in the mid nineties without no real success at all, maybe in England but not overseas. Scourge was their last effort and it was similar in sound to their earlier records, maybe a bit more american in sound, somewhere in the early nineties Pantera.

Groovy riffs and a cooky vocalist on top sounding a bit like the Pantera-vocalist Phil Anselmo but perhaps not as aggressive though. The music has also some Sacred Reich-similarities. This is a good try but scourge didn't made it into the hall of fame. The production is clearer than the earlier Xentrix-releases which is good. Simon Gordon is a new recruit to this album replacing Chris Astley on the vocals. Simon Gordon is absolutely no vocalgod but he does a fair job replacing Astley. But he only sings and leaves the guitarduty to Kristian Havard alone. England had a few great bands back in the days, Xentrix was absolutely on of them, even if their earlier records are the best. This one is actually a smaller let down.

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XENTRIX - KIN (1992)

After two great albums in Shattered Existence and For Whose Advantage? Xentrix had established themselves as one of Britains premier thrash bands. But then the nineties came and everything changed.

Just look at the album artwork. Four long haired guys on the artwork and some type of Guns 'N' Roses-font is being used for the title. It doesn't take a genious to figure out that things have gone south here. But how bad is it for Xentrix and their third album Kin? I would say that Xentrix tried to jump on the wave that Metallica created with their Black Album. Simplifying things seems to sell so that is what Xentrix did here. They started to write simpler songs, stripped them down and brought in some melodies and ballads.

The days when metal bands wrote metal songs have passed. Somewhere after Metallica dropped that Black Album bomb on the metal community there came a lot of bands that followed like a ripple effect. Megadeth, Death Angel and Anthrax they all fell into the same trap. But those bands had a larger following. For a band like Xentrix it was a devestating blow, sure they released another album in 1996 but Xentrix was no longer relevant to a metal audience and not many bands thrived while going the commercial route either.

There are a few moments when the band delivers some melody and sad Flotsam and Jetsam-like metal but Kin is mostly a sellout album. But if you're a fan of the Black Album and some of the rock / metal albums of the early nineties this could be your thing, but I would strongly doubt that anyone finds anything worth their time here. Do I need to say that the band got dumped from Roadracer records after releasing this album?

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XENTRIX - DILUTE TO TASTE (1991)

The live songs are recorded in Preston in late 1990. And one year later Xentrix released "Dilute to taste". The two songs Pure thought and Shadows of a doubt are previously unreleased. The first 'Pure thought' sounds like a "Metal church"-song, great riffing, a strong bridge and a nice acoustic part.

The second song 'Shadows of a doubt' starts out with a fine acoustic intro which leads into a harmonic piece, Metal Church meets Testament would be a fair description of Xentrix music. Two strong songs as I see it. Vocalist Chris Astley's voice sounds like a not so rough version of Exodus-vocalist Steve 'Zetro' Souza from time to time. Their famous cover of the Ghostbuster theme from TV is included on this EP. This is not an essential piece of thrash metal but if you find it cheap or if you are a thrash completist, go for it!

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XENTRIX - SHATTERED EXISTENCE(1989) (Review by: Mr. Thrash)

Xentrix (formely Sweet Vengeance) first album from 1989 is nothing more than a must have, 'cause this is so damn good. Very well played thrash and as usual is their musicianship over the top all the time.

This is a great ride on the thrash train, up and down, fast and slow. I would say that this is their strongest album they ever did, very intense and well structured songs. The opening song ”no compromise” is a classic thrash song with all the element we love so much, speed, aggression, good solos and solid drumming. And offcourse Chris Astley delivers his low–pitched vocal style which fits Xentrix very good. The second song ”balance of power” is a mid-tempo story, and a great live song who Xentrix played often.

And this is how the album goes on, some mid-tempo songs, some fast etc, and alot of good breaks and stylechanges here and there all the time. This album bites a hole in my soul, and crawls into it, and it has totally possessed me. I´m addicted to ”shattered existence”. In my opinion there is no weak song on this album. This album ain´t hard to find on vinyl, but if you are intressed in this albums cd-release, you should be aware that this is a very rare cd who often goes at very high prices (we should demand roadrunner to re-release all Xentrix albums!). But with all out of print albums, this one pops up in second hand record stores sometimes. And if you call yourself a thrasher and dont pick this one up, please visit a doctor 'cause you are f**king nuts

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