Xentrix: How They Influenced the UK Thrash Metal Scene with Their Albums
on a few occasions, xentrix released albums on a white label and these were distributed by the band itself, or by friends. their first such release was the extraordinary the gathering ep, which is a completely different beast to the rest of the band's output; it is barely thrashy, with a lot of experimental bits, a more melodic feel, and many, many guitar solos. the first album to feature a proper line-up of leckie and ferrell as the sole guitarists was the twilight of the gods. it started off with a couple of songs that were old-fashioned thrash, but then things took a turn for the experimental. the guitars sounded like they were being played through a leslie speaker cabinet, and the bass was in the background, but it wasnt a soundtrack album. the album is more about atmosphere than music, and the guitars are more about sound than notes. the final song, godslayer, is the only one that sounds like a traditional thrash song, but there is no defining riff.
Xentrix Discography 19871996
the songwriting is crucial of course, but what xentrix managed to do, and what so many of their peers had for a variety of reasons )often budget-related) failed to do, was to make an album that could stand next to and justice for all or the new order without sounding cheap or amateurish. key to this was producer john cuniberti, then fresh from recording a pair of bona fide thrash classics, vio-lences eternal nightmare and forbiddens forbidden evil. what that meant was that from the opening galloping riff of no compromise, shattered existence sounded right. that song is exactly what the teenage thrasher of 1989 wanted: an angry, catchy justification of metal itself, seemingly addressed to record company executives dont tell me that you think it wont sell/ thats just a fucking lousy lie but essentially aimed squarely at its audience: dont think what you parents might say/ if its too noisy, fast and loud/ just fuck em all, and do it anyway/ stand up and be proud. a little gauche you might think; but when set to a memorable tune with fast and heavy guitars and delivered by a singer with a convincing hetfield/chuck billy voice, a kind of alchemy takes place.