Centuries - The Lights Of This Earth Are Blinding album review

Intensity is paramount when it comes to punk, especially at the crustier end of the scale, but that doesn’t always have to translate to ‘violent heaviness’ – it’s also about mood. On tracks like Bygones the drums may be twatted so hard your eyeballs hurt, but there’s more to Centuries’ second full-length than a barroom brawl of flailing guitars and harsh vocals. Acoustic instrumentals and scathing feedback pepper the music throughout, with Fury’s dark folk tones evoking something more akin to Wear Your Wounds, counteracted by closer Nul Orietur’s crunching, sludge-laden riffgasm. For what is ostensibly a crust record, Centuries aren’t afraid to experiment with the formula, exploring hidden alleyways to broaden and deepen their pitch darkness. At times delicate, at times destructive, but always sinister, they never truly let you off that emotional butcher’s hook.