Another victim of the retrogressive speed/power metal movement, Centurion have chosen Helloween's "Walls of Jericho" album as their particular liftoff. The cloning of Kai Hansen's early vocal style is prevalent, but I could also detect hints of early Sanctuary, Scanner, and Mania. This aside, the first few tracks of this CD are deceptively interesting. "Centurion", the token self-titled anthem, blazes into the speakers with a fury that will appease any Hammerfall/Primal Fear neonate. The second track, "Steel Breath", is far more concise with a mean-sounding introduction riff. The remainder of the album seems to be the standard jaunt into German power metal territory, songs like "Guns are Screaming", "Bloodstreets", and "Ragin' Power", are pretty average fare but a few of the songs like "Razor Blade" give slight nods to early Rage. While I can't say the music Centurion present is particularly interesting or original, I do respect their overall production values here, which seem to mark the band as a genuine return-to-roots metal outfit and not an overly-produced attempt at commercializing pre-existing music (i.e. Hammerfall). Buy this if you are a fan of the early Helloween and Mania stuff and you're wondering where it all got off to.

© 2000 pizarro