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BACK
CENTINEX
A Decade of Desolation
By Adrian ‘The Energizer’ Bromley 
"We are just so proud of how everything has turned out for
the new record," boasts bassist and founding Centinex member
Martin Schulman about the band’s latest release, Diabolical
Desolation. "Candlelight has done a great job promoting the
album and the reaction so far has been great. While I am not sure
what this all means right now, it is definitely an important step
for us in our career. Just another step forward, growing as the
years go on."
For the past ten years, Swedish death metal act Centinex have masterfully
crafted their sound and style, evolving through the years, but still
maintaining a rough, raw edge to their death metal approach. The
band’s penchant for meshing unique ideas within brutality-laden
numbers has allowed Centinex to shine.
"Every album we [the band is rounded out by guitarists Kenneth
Wiklund and Jonas Kjellgren, drummer Kennet Englund and singer Johan
Jansson] see the sales of Centinex get bigger and bigger, and that
is a great feeling knowing that people are into what you do and
come back to support you with each new release," he states.
"We are just climbing up and up with each release and we are
always up for the challenge of what lies ahead for Centinex."
And it must be a challenge each time out to outdo yourselves with
each new recording, right? Or does Schulman not think about that
stuff when he heads into the studio?
"There are a lot of things that are important to us when we
go in to make a record. The songs. The sound. The order. The vibe
of the studio. All of those are important in making a record come
together," he explains. "Before you enter the studio,
as this is something we have learned from years of doing this, it
is important to make sure you have all the tracks ready to go and
well rehearsed. You need to be ready and on the ball when recording
because things can go wrong. Being prepared and satisfied with material
is the key. Once in the studio, seeing that we are confident with
the way the songs have come together, we work a bit more on the
sound of the production, making sure we can get the best we can
get."
Is it frustrating in the studio?
"Not really," he says. "With this record we were
in the studio for eight weeks and that was during the summer time.
And you can imagine, spending your summer in the studio is not what
most people want to do. Everything went really smooth. We didn’t
care how long the studio time was—two weeks, four weeks or
eight weeks—as long as the album came out sounding great and
we were proud of the final product."
About that final product, he says, "I like all of the songs
on this record. I think all of the songs are quite different, but
work well off one another. We all have different tastes in music
and I think that is quite evident with the way this album was assembled
and what you’ll hear here. In short, Diabolical Desolation
is a varied record. I find that many albums today are just 10 or
12 songs that pretty much sound the same. Nothing really stands
out, which isn’t the case with our new album.
"I just want to play music that people will be able to get
a lot out of. I think a lot of the bands I was influenced by early
on, bands like Entombed, Dismember and Slayer, really inspired us
to play brutal and intense music, but nowadays I think we have found
our own sound. I think we know what we want to get out of Centinex
and as the years go on, the sound of the band grows stronger and
makes more of an impact on us and the fans."
Having been around for so long and seen many eras of metal music
come and go, what does Schulman think of today’s music scene
and where Centinex fits in?
"I am not sure where we fit in. I mean, if someone out there
is looking for some really brutal Swedish death metal, then I think
people will be into us. I don’t really analyze or pay attention
to what we sound like or the music we play or what category we fit
into. It sounds cliché, but we write music for ourselves.
If someone else likes what we do, that is an added bonus. We’ll
let other people categorize us. We play brutal music and hopefully
someone latches onto what we do."
And it must be hard to compete with the huge assortment of Swedish
metal bands making headway right now in the music scene.
"It is quite hard with us being from Sweden. We have a real
underground following, but we are somewhat known in the Swedish
music scene, and it is difficult when there are many types of metal
bands trying to get noticed. I think we hold our own pretty well.
"Having been in this music scene for so long, we have learned
to adapt, but at the same time stay true to what we play musically,"
the bassist adds. "A lot of these other bands who played fast
and brutal death metal when they started have started to change
a lot over the years and lose the style that helped get them noticed
when there was a death metal boom here in Sweden in the early 1990s."
So how has Centinex avoided changing too far from their original
incarnation and sound then?
"I just think we stayed focused with what we wanted to do.
It is that simple, really. I look at a band like Dismember who were
a great band back in the day, but in the last few years I think
they have gone downhill and not put anything really good out that
could stand up to their classic earlier material. We have continued
to grow with our music and just felt determined to make it more
intense over the past decade. It has been a long journey for us
with this band, but we are proud of how we have stayed true to what
we started with Centinex.
"I’m glad that we have seen success with each album, but
you know what? That is not important at all. I mean, I like to see
success for us or any band, but what it comes down to is that we
are still able to create music and put together great albums worth
of material. Nothing, not even large album sales, will beat the
feeling of finishing up a great album and knowing that you gave
it your best shot."
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