Interviews

 

At this page you can read some interviews we did lately.

Interview for Metallic Warlust 'zine (by Jerry) Click here
Interview for Death Chronicles Magazine (by Jerry) Click here
Interview for Outshitten Cunt Magazine (by Jerry) Click here
Interview for Noise Magazine (by Rob and Wim) Click here
Interview for Mandrake Magazine (by Wim) in Dutch Click here
Interview for Psychosis Death Zine (by Wim) Click here
Interview for Infernal Nation Magazine (by Wim) Click here

 

 

 

Interview for Metallic Warlust 'zine

Questions by Alex Campbell, Answers by Jerry (July 2001)

1) Alright, we'll start off with the obvious questions. Were Pat and Seth kicked out for making passes at you?  Explain the reason. How are Jerry and Oskar fitting in with the band now? How did you find them? Are they contributing any writing now and how do their roles compare to those of Pat and Seth. What's it liked having two guitarists now as opposed to just one as in the past, I'd imagine the two guitarists would make things difficult with such chaotic riffing.

 

Hello Alex! This is Jerry here, answering the questions for you! First of all I wish to apologize for the delay in the answering of your questions, but we had to meet a deadline for finishing of the new CENTURIAN album "Liber ZarZax", so I hope you can understand.
Alright, to start of with the interview now, Seth and Patrick had no romantic feelings towards the other bandmembers, as far as I know, so I will stick to the official version of why their ways parted. Both Seth and Pat where too much involved in their other band to be of full service and dedication to CENTURIAN any longer and since CENTURIAN is about being totally committed to the cause, it became too difficult to combine both bands for the relieved gentlemen in question. There were absolutely no hard feelings what-so-ever, but it's just one of those things in life and music in particular.
 
Oskar and myself were both involved in a band know, by only the lucky few, as ZI XUL. We have produced about two demo's in a period of 6 years. It seems little, but we figured if we were to give our copy-rights to a recordlabel, it better be a damned good one! And that's also the department where we ran out of luck, or where we had put insufficient effort into, due to all kinds of different circumstances beyond and within our control. Fortunately, we had been in touch with the guys from CENTURIAN from the early days in 1997 on, swapped demo's and kept running into each other at concerts and last year performed at the same festival. After the departure of Seth and Patrick, I was the first dude on the list they called to fill the empty positions of Vocalist and Bassplayer. Which they thought would be awkward, since I didn't play bass but leadguitar in my former band. However, I already had plenty experience in being frontman, vocalist and guitarplayer at the same time, so it was only a matter of persuading me to pick up the bassguitar, which din't bother me, for it has given me the opportunity to put more emphasis on being a frontman during vocalparts at livegigs.
So, when I first officially met up with Wim and Rob, the name of Oskar came topic of conversation and it became apparent that they also were very interested in adding a second guitarplayer to the band. Having worked with Oskar for over 6 years, made it fairly easy for me to convince the other guys, that Oskar would be perfect for the job, and told them to contact him as well, although I wasn't sure, whether he would be interested in this gig, for ZI XUL was a very and in fact, still is, a very important spiritual outlet for Oskar. The remaining events are obvious. I feel very strongly that we now have a perfect blend of both bands forced into one!
 
Totally speaking for myself, I can say that with the new line up, CENTURIAN has gained a lot power and additional Occult Knowledge, for we both have been involved in another band for some 6 to 7 years, in which we more or less wrote about the same topics, CENTURIAN wishes to address. We definitely know what we are talking about! Musically, we are also our toughest critics, which we did not hesitate to put in use for the recording of the new CENTURIAN album! Biggest advantage was, that we were very fresh and objective towards the new material and felt very free to have a no-holds-barred opinion about the new songs! That's where our input started to join the process. Oskar above all has mainly re-written all the lyrics, this in close collaboration with Rob, to keep his initial ideas in tact as much as possible. Musically we had enough time to let the new songs 'mature' and to be shaped into killer CENTURIAN songs! It's cool, we have 4 songwriters and 4 critics in this band now and it is working out brilliantly. We all love the end result of all our combined efforts!

2) Tell us a little bit about the split with Full Moon and signing with Listenable records, the reasons behind it and differences between the two labels.


Well, Full Moon served it's purpose so to speak! They have done a great job for CENTURIAN with the promotion of the previous releases, but they mainly focused their attention to the US and South America, which in itself is great, but we needed more feedback on our homeground, for that's where we feel we can play more gigs and without the support of your record company, that get's pretty hard to accomplish by yourself, it is a job in itself. So we thought it would be best if we would join forces with Listenable to try to cover as much ground as possible. It is a new era for CENTURIAN and we feel it is a very natural step in the development of this band at this point in time.


3) Explain the concept behind the new CD "Liber ZarZax." I know Rob has come up with most of the concepts used in the past, how did you learn of all these things and what inspired you to incorporate them into Centurian? (this and the next question are very intriguing so please go into as much DETAIL as possible! don't worry about dragging on forever because i love long interviews if they're kept interesting and this sure as hell is. feel free to bring up things i did not address in the question if they relate.-Alex)

Yeah, Rob indeed came up with the concept of this record, but he has closed a magical pact with Oskar, for as I said before, he had a great deal of input in the lyrics. Oskar is a human library as it comes to occult matters and also for complete useless factoids, haha! Both gentlemen connected on a spiritual level and have found the words for what they felt they had to say on this album. As Frontman of this band and being used to Oskar's style, I know how to interpret these lyrics and make them work for myself as well. The great thing about the new lyrics is that they are multi-interpretable and therefore fit for ones own opinion about them. That's the big difference with the lyrics CENTURIAN used before.

 
Let's get technical: "Liber ZarZax" literally means: 'Of the Tenth Aethyr'. The tenth Aethyr, called ZAX, is the magical realm in which the demonic force Choronzon resides. Back in the 17th century, the Elizabethan mathematician Dr. John Dee formulated a magical system to visit the higher spiritual spheres. This system, now known as the Enochian System of Magick, consists of 30 different spheres or 'Aethyrs'. ZAX, the tenth Aethyr, is a non-dimensional realm in which nothing exists, yet everything is. It is the Outermost Abyss, comparible to Hell. It's a place between life and death, a place of Chaos, where everything is possible. The name ZARZAX can be given to any entity, thing or happening which contains the dark, destructive part of Chaos. 
The album "Liber ZarZax" is "The Book of the Power of the Tenth Aethyr", the book of Choronzon - the destructive force of Chaos! The songs and lyrics of the new CENTURIAN album have everything to do with Chaos, Satan and Death. It's like a book or grimoire glorifying the end of the World. 
 
Within CENTURIAN there are forces who get deep gratification out of all this stuff, myself included. You know, in daily life it is rarely useful and very hard to practice these matters. Nevertheless, we have the opportunity to do just that through CENTURIAN! We channel all our anger and feelings of disgust towards humanity and it's mongrel ways and religions through our lyrics and especially our music. Also this, in combination with gaining such knowledge is utterly rewarding!

4) Centurian is a Satanic band, so please explain what Satanism is to you. Different people have many different interpretations, for example La Veyan
Satanism, which I personally think is a joke that really is just using Satanic imagery as a gimmick behind independent beliefs. How do the members
of Centurian go about practicing Satanism? Centurian songs have written about self-mutilation and sacrifice, so please elaborate on that.
 
You are absolutely right by saying that Satanism is a very personal thing, as all 'religions' should be in my opinion! My vision towards the subject is very different from Rob, Oskar or Wim. To me, it is mainly about minding my own business and try to care as little as possible for others whom I do not see fit to Indulge on my personal resources and precious energy, which is pretty difficult, as I do have to provide for myself. In daily life I find it useful in little things with great consequences for my own being. To love ones neighbour for instants, can be very tiresome, so that's just one of those small things I tend not to worry about AT ALL! The less, the merrier. People suck big time, apart from children who just do their 'thing' .
I am an observer, mainly. Christianity or other feeble mass-religions never seize to amaze me with their sickening weaknesses and 'two-faced' morals, which to me in itself is justification enough to be a messenger for Satan, if it was only to annoy those bastards! On the other hand, I enjoy Occult theory more than practice, but have no problem bringing theory to practice, if circumstances demand so.But I tend not to cut myself for Satan, as Rob has done before, but that's completely his thing. It is what floats his boat! More power to him! Oskar also has no problem with exploring the boundaries of what society labels as 'extreme', but same goes for him as well.
As far as Wim is concerned, I recently heard he always has very good conversations with Satan, after a few beers! Hahaha! When sober, he also has his own motives to support the message of CENTURIAN.
Indeed, laVeyan Satanism is a sorry-ass carnival, especially now he has joined the Choir Invisible, but in the timeframe in which laVey emerged, he said something 'new' and above all, he did it out in the open! Those right-winged, Christian fucks where not amused to say the least. Also I think he has said some sensible things, but as a movement, it was a little bit 'overdressed', which makes it the understatement of the year! Haha.It made him more money than being a sideshow-organist though!
 
5) Rob has done the artwork for the band in the past, superb artwork if you ask me. Will he continue to do the artwork for Liber ZarZax and future releases? Will this new album be done in blood as the last one (fucking better be, that kicked ass)? How do you go about drawing and painting in your own blood and how long did that process take?

One takes a knife , summons a few 'friends' or 'sponsors' by candlelight and goes about ones business. That's basically it! Serious, I do not feel at liberty to make such statements on Rob's behalf. But what I do know, is that it has been a very spiritual experience for him.

Kids, do not try this at home, go to a friends house!
People who expect another "Choronzonic" cover however, shall be disappointed with the new artwork, I am afraid. This time we had the opportunity to have an artist do the whole lay-out for our album. It is more of a total concept now, in comparison to the previous releases. It is not just the cover that draws attention, but the whole of the inlay is done in the same style as the frontcover, it has more connection with what is being said on the album itself. To make another cover with blood wouldn't have as much impact as the first time. I think the music itself is proof enough of our dedication!
Also, Rob isn't such a big fellow and he is still recovering from his last effort! Haha! You should see his scars they're cooooool! He's a sick motherf...!

 

6) The scene in Holland has been in the past and present somewhat of an elite scene. You have the legendary days of Asphyx and Pestilence, and now bands like Sinister and Centurian and many more carrying on the Dutch legacy. I don't think I have yet come by a shitty Dutch band so please tell us about some and some of the better, less known bands there.

First of all, there is my former band, which is continued by Oskar, called ZI XUL, whom are planning for some serious action in the future. When and how is still somewhat of a blurr so far, but they will make themselves be heared! The music of this band certainly deserves it. In the last 6 years we have been working together, we've done some pretty cool stuff! But up to 'till now they have not released anything worth mentioning, apart from a couple of demo's.

Further bands I should mention are off course the band of Seth and Patrick, SEVERE TORTURE, with whom we had the pleasure of playing gigs with on two occasions. Virulent is also a very promising new band, check them out! I think bands like God Dethroned and Pentacle need no further introduction.

7) How is life in Holland, in general and for Metal. Are show turnouts good there? What has been the best show you've played? Any good stories to tell
from touring? How have recent gigs gone and how have fans been responding to the new shit and the new guys? Do you get any nice groupies and whores (Wim, since you're married now you better avoid this one, haha-Alex)? Who drinks the most beer in the band? Give us some good Dutch beer and what do you think of American beer in comparison? How about Canadian beer (U.S. shit's for pussies, hah)?

Life in Holland is pretty much what you make of it and personally I think it's the same shit as you can find anywhere on the planet. Although I wouldn't mind sitting on my lazy ass all day on some tropical island with my significant other. But as soon as I wake up, I find myself working up a sweat from 9-5! Holland is mainly a nice country, if you're a tourist from a country with tight-ass, hypocrite drug-laws, or if you want to have euthanasia, or, when you fancy, to attend a gay wedding! Apart from that, all else is shit!

On the other hand, we have a pretty healthy metal-scene here. Although not all shows are as well attended as one would consider a good turnout, the shows we' ve done thusfar were very cool. Off course for myself it were the first gigs, which made the pressure particularly high, kept in mind we were only working with this band for the past 4 months at the time and still had to do tons of work on the newalbum. But it all went very well indeed and respons of the crowd was very positive. In three shows we had three knock-outs in the Pit! First few songs the crowd is really looking very closely to the new line-up, but after about 4 to 5 songs they really start to tear the place apart. So I must say the respons has been very stimulating and Oskar, myself and the rest of the band feel absolutely confident for the future!
As far as groupies are concerned; The chances of scoring with Centurian are 50%, for Wim is indeed a married man and a father of a son and myself is very much engaged to make the same mistakes, hahaha! So ladies, we only have two single guitarplayers available!
For beeradvice....., Wim is the expert, so he might give you some advice.....
(Wim: I'm more into quantity then quality ha ha, besides after a dozen I don't know what I'm drinking anyway. If you want to spent your money right when it comes to beer........just buy lots of beer. But when I was in the US they forced me to drink MILLER, damned man, even I thought that was bad !!!!!!)

 

8) How do you go about writing, is the music written first followed by the lyrics? Musically Centurian has been barbarically fast from start to finish, will that always be true for you or will you try new things like Deicide has done recently? Do you try to have the lyrics and music blend together to combine in fitting relation or is it more of a cut-and-paste sort of thing where you write it all separately then put it together as things work?

It must be a combination of all of the above, I guess! For this album, even before Oskar and I joined in, the main structures of almost all the new songs were finished. Rob had some idea of where he wanted to take CENTURIAN lyrically, but that part really took form after Oskar joined the process. In our previous band we always started out with the lyrics and let the atmosphere of the words and message it contained be of absolute guideline of where to take the music. With CENTURIAN however, it is totally reverse. We managed to shape the words to the feeling of the songs, which worked out brilliantly. Each song has it's completely own 'feel' and tells you a seperate story, without forcing things. I guess this collaboration was meant to be! The best example would be the track called "Dead Black Nucleus", which we wrote together in the rehearsalstudio and where all noses pointed in the same direction! It is going to be last song on the album as a kind of a foreboding of things to come in the future.

The new songs are more structured than the previous CENTURIAN songs, but have gained a lot of agression and spiritual depth! Without losing any of the 'barbaricality'!

 9) How long have you been into the metal world? What bands inspired you to play music? What was your first underground concert? What are some of your favorite bands/albums?

Wow, that must be almost 15-17 years now! My first underground gig was Napalm Death with Morbid Angel opening the event, in Amsterdam, 1989, long, long time ago.....! My first concert ever was Iron Maiden in 1988 and after that I also saw Annihilator play in their original line-up, which was very cool. Those where two of the bands that inspired me to play guitar, but it all began with Status Quo, back when I was about 10 or 12 years of age, very young,,,,but I started to play guitar when I was seventeen, almost 12 years ago now. In those days , Death was one of my biggest fav's, I could play all their albums!

For concerning my fav album of all time, that must be 'Blessed are the sick' by Morbid Angel. It's an evergreen, man! But now, 'Liber ZarZax' will be of great competition!Ha, ha!


10) Thanks a ton for the interview! Any final comments and plugs are yours to make here

Yeah, thanks for taking an interest in CENTURIAN and it's members and I hope you will enjoy the new album as much as we do!
Take care and on Wim's behalf to all the fans: Cheers! See you on the road soon, hopefully!

Metallic Warlust 'zine c/o Alex Campbell NecrosisMorthor@aol.com

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CENTURIAN interview Death Chronicles

Questions by Dan/Death Chronicles, answers by Jerry. (Jun. 2001)

-Hails wim, I want to thank for taking part int he premier issue of death
Chronicles.... Well, it's Jerry speaking here, but your welcome anyway! It's my pleasure! I hope you will kick some major ass with this new mag!

-Tell the readers, who may not know who you are alittle about Centurian....Ok, CENTURIAN started out back in 1997 as a continuation of former thrash/deathmetalband Inquisitor, but when the remaining members started out writing new songs, it turned out to sound completely different from the stuff that Inquisitor used to, so there was a decision made to change the band's name into CENTURIAN. Soon followed the release of the first demo called "Of Purest Fire", which got CENTURIAN quite a rep in the underground. They got noticed by Full Moon Productions and signed a record deal with them and soon saw the release of "Of Purest Fire" as a MCD, in 1999 followed up by the release of the first full-length album titled "Choronzonic Chaos Gods", which caused quite a stir because of the brutal and raw underground death metal feel and Satanic onslaught which it spawned upon mortal ears. Also it was noticed by it's bizarre artwork, which was made by Rob Oorthuis, the Guitarplayer, who painted the cover with his own blood!

-You guys have a new CD coming out, "Liber ZarZax", what can we expect from
it? As a result of recent line up changes, you will notice that CENTURIAN has become even more brutal and blasphemous than before! A second guitarplayer, Oskar, was added to the group and myself replaced former vocalist Seth and bassplayer Patrick, so apart from the new faces on the albumcover, you can expect 11 songs full of christbashing, blasphemy and spiritual awareness. Songs tend to be more 'to the point' so to speak, and production sounds more mature than the previous releases. But it is, above all, Death Metal, CENTURIAN style!

-Can you let us in on what the titles means? In terms of the "concept", or rather said, the spiritual approach we had in mind for this album, this album goes deeper into some of the occult matter that was initiated on "Choronzonic..", With the new blood also came new insight in spiritual and occult knowledge, so we took the lyrics to a higher level this time. In my opinion the new lyrics now leave more space for different interpretations, which to me, make them more interesting. The title"Liber ZarZax" is a summary of what you will find on the album. ZarZax is the world where Choronzon and his demons live (the Choronzonic Chaos Gods) and liber is a sort of demonic book. So, a demonic book about the world where Choronzon resides: ZarZax. Also, Zax also can be seen as a metaphore for all that is Evil and Chaos.
So the album will have everything to do with Chaos, Satan, Death and the destruction of the human filth that walks the earth! It will be a sonic Holocaust, hahaha! 
 
-Tell us about the addition of a second guitarist, has it changed the sound
alot? It definately has given CENTURIAN more power in the compositions, as well as live on stage! On the new album we have used the extra 'hooks' a second guitar can add to our fullest satisfaction! Most compositions, which were originally written for one guitarpart only, gained a lot of maturiy by adding the extra guitarbits and pieces! We were surprised ourselfs about the endresult! Hope you like it!
 
-On the new CD, can we expect a natural progression from the other two
release?
Absolutely! With two new members and the natural progression within the band you can expect CENTURIAN to be even more complex than ever before!

-What were you main influences during the writing of the new disc
CENTURIAN writes it's music from their own perspective. We have enough talent to create our own 'feel' and sound. Off course we all enjoy a good piece of death metal, but we mainly create from within our own minds

-I saw your show at the Milwaukee Metalfest a few years ago, it was brutal,
did the metalfest gig help to gain exposure for the band?
    -do you plan to tour the US in support of "Liber ZarZax"?
Touring aint something CENTURIAN has done abundantly in the past. In fact, the Milwaukeefest has been the only show we have done in the US so far. We hope that with this new album we can change the touringodds which seemed to have been against us for the better! As far as publicity as a result of that one gig is concerned, the respons has been phenomenal and has done CENTURIAN very well. Thank you good people of the US of A!!
-I noticed you decided to release the new CD through Listenable records, what
happened to Fullmoon?
Well, we were convinced we would have better chances with Listenable, especially regarding the covering of our homesoil, which is Europe. Full Moon did an outstanding job in the States, but couldn't give us as much support here, where we figured we neede it the most, for most of our gigs we play overhere. Also we felt very strongly CENTURIAN had outgrown the ambitions of Full Moon. A logical thing to do, is to try to find a label to fit the band better, which wwe did. 

-How did Centurian get involved in the "Scream Forth Blasphemy" tribute to
Morbid Angel?
      -how did you choose the song the did?
We heard about it through Full Moon and agreed to participate on this particular tribute album. We also thought it would be better to re-record the song, for the sound of the song used aint 'all-that', but before we knew there it was in the stores ! We did not agree to use this version, but what the hell, it also gave us extra, free publicity!

-What is your opinion of the current metal scene both in Europe in the US?
I notice a lot of renewed interest for the  genre, which is good! Also there are plenty of very brutal bands around these days! The band of former CENTURIAN members Seth and Patrick, SEVERE TORTURE, is doing some great things at the moment. They recently played the Ohio Death fest and did very well there!
There are too many good bands around to mention them all, but I think the scene is definately regaining it's rightful position!

-In closing, I would like thank you on behalf of Death Chronicles #1 for your
support, any thoughts you would like to leave us with?
Yes, thanks for taking an interest in CENTURIAN and I sincerely hope you and your readers will enjoy listening to our new album, to be released in september! May the power of Three hundred-Thirty and Three grant you a pleasant afterlife! Hahaha! 

                                    ----end of interview-----

I really appreciate the opportunity of doing this interview, it is an honor
for me and will make a killer piece for my first issue!!! Keep in touch and
let me know how I can get ahold of a copy of the new disc to review!!!

Also can you send me a current band photo that I can use for the layout?

Thanks
Keep it brutal!!!!
Dan/Death Chronicles

DeathChronZine@aol.com

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Interview for outshitten Cunt Magazine  ( oc_mag@hotmail.com )

Questions by Outshitten Cunt, Answers by Jerry (Mai 2001)

 

1.Hi Jerry! The former vocalist Seth and bassman Patrick left CENTURIAN in December 2000, but I’ve understood that this change won’t affect CENTURIAN very much, right? Please introduce yourself and the new guitarist Oscar.

Hi there! Nice talking to you and to have this opportunity to shed some light on recent developements within CENTURIAN! Well, I shall start by introducing Oskar and myself to your readers. Oskar and myself have been working together on a project called ZI XUL since the beginning of 1994 in which we tried effortlessly to gain a solid position within the Dutch Deathmetal scene by creating the most spiritual, hateful and brutal music as we could possibly make and as a result of that we produced two demo's, first with just the two of us on guitars, with myself also taking care of vocal duties and accompanied by a drumcomputer ( capable drummers do not grow on trees overhere!) and the second effort was recorded as a promotional rehearsal recording with real drums, but nevertheless, both demo' s got hardly noticed due to lack of promotional activities, which, if you do it right, take up as much time as producing a recording as well. Also you need tons of luck getting the press to notice you and I am therefore sad to say that as far as that project was concerned the odds where against us most of the time. But then came CENTURIAN.....And they DID notice our work!

Initially, Wim and Rob approached only me back in december to fill the spots where both Seth and Patrick left on vocals and bassguitar as they set out to continue CENTURIAN as a three-man band. I was immediately interested because I felt very strongly, that with CENTURIAN I could take my position as a musician to a much higher level and had the feeling that within CENTURIAN, on bass and vocals, instead off guitars combined with the vocal parts, I could put more emphasis to my position as a frontman, which I feel is as important when playing spiritual music live as performing with full dedication on a recording. So after a short period of contemplation over the offer, I felt I could not resist the opportunity at hand. If I would ever have something to say as a musician and be heard as well, it was going to be with these two guys and after discussing the matter with my former bandmates, who could very much understand my dilemma, I decided to join forces with CENTURIAN.

A few days later, however, when I officially first met up with Wim and Rob to discuss the proceedings for the future and were getting better acquainted, conversation led to a point where we came to talk about the possibility of having a second guitarplayer in the band and that I used to work with such a gifted person, who could also have great input on the writing process. Oskar is someone whom I admire very much as a songwriter, guitarplayer and foremost, because he is the most critical person on this planet and I know that CENTURIAN would gain lots off power and creativity if we could somehow be able to maintain our musical co-existance, for Oskar has great capabilities when it comes down to arrangements and vocalpatterns and we have always felt that with the way we worked together over the past 6 years, the only way for us to go was to the top and no less than the top. It is great for me to see that we where able to make the switch to CENTURIAN simultaniously and I also I knew he would be able to hit it off with Rob, because their philosophies are of kindred spirit. They both live by the same drive regarding beliefs, feelings of disgust towards humanity and off course, musicianship. There was a great mutual respect from the start and we knew that with this new line-up, if we would use it's capacities to the fullest, the world would be in for a blast!!

2.Eventhough you were not apart of the band until recently, Wim told me that you could handle questions concerning the past of the band...so, Tell me about the debut “Choronzonic Chaos Gods” Reactions, reviews, sales...Did you expect better or worse?

Funny, I am in a position where I can honoustly have a very objective view on this, for I whitnessed the whole "Choronzonic.." period (and the period before) from a distance, as a (critical!!) fan of the band and the genre and felt that they had made a very strong album with a very original artwork, songs full of christbashing and the first mature signs of occult interest. Though, critically I would say that the sound of the production wasn't "all that", it was an album with "feeling" and lots of true anger. I always enjoy and respect bands with something to say and also their music showed great signs of musical excellence and intelligence as well as sincerity, but with a side-remark that I strongly felt, this was all very much "under construction" and, to my modest opinion, needed some time to develope. But overall, I really think it is a great record with very powerful Death Metalsongs with an own face and sound on it and also bearing into mind that the album was released in a period when deathmetal was all but popular and "cool", I really think CENTURIAN did a great job with this album. And as a result of that CENTURIAN gained a lot off sympathy and respect amongst fellow bands and built up a pretty large fanbase, especially in the America's, but also in Europe. Reviews I have read of the album where mainly very positive and it appeared in many top halfs of extreme music charts and playlists.  Regarding to salesnumbers, well, I think it did rather okay, but one can never be satisfied until one equals sales-quantities like Morbid Angel does for instants, but consider "Choronzonic Chaos Gods" as an opener of the way for CENTURIAN! Just wait until you hear the new album "Liber ZarZax"!

3.Could you enlighten me by explaining the connections between MENTICIDE- INQUISITOR-DESULTORY and CENTURIAN? Have you heard the Swedish DESULTORY?

I am sorry to say that I did not hear anything from the Swedish Desultory, although I must say, it does ring a bell distantly. But I don't feel at liberty to give a substantial opinion about them. As far as the connection goes between Menticide; Inquisitor; Desultory and CENTURIAN, these bands all have had the pleasure of working with Wim, the most brutal drummer of the Northern Hemisphere!! You forgot to mention Judgement Day, Sinister and Occult as well. He has been a pretty busy fellow in the past. A true Death Metal Veteran!

4.What’s the story behind your band name? I guess that you been mixed up with Italian CENTURION a time or two...?

Well, back in 1997, when the band was still called Inquisitor at the time,  Rob and Wim were the only members left after a few line-up changes. As soon as they started writing music together, they almost immediately came to the conclusion that the sound was totally different from what Inquisitor used to produce, so almost naturally came the idea to change the name of the band into CENTURIAN, for it did more justice to the new way of playing and also it did justice to the fans of Inquisitor, who would have otherwise have been very disappointed to hear that their fav band had changed it's sound completely and knew now that they could expect something different.

I think CENTURIAN is a very powerful name and it represents the bands playingstyle; for it sounds brutal, also it has a catchy feel to it. Furthermore it has also a Satanic meaning, for a CENTURIAN was one of a "Legion" and formost, it were Roman soldiers who nailed the Nazarene to a piece of outdoor furniture!

And as far as mix-ups with our Italian collegues are concerned, well, we are not a least bit worried about that. They do their thing and we do ours.

5.How did things work out with Full Moon Productions? From what I’ve heard and read you seemed to be more than satisfied with ’em...And suddenly I read that you’ve signed to Listenable Records, was there any disagreements between you and F.M.P., or what were the reasons for the label change? How many albums have you signed for Listenable ?

At the time, Full Moon worked great for CENTURIAN and they made a lot of efforts to spread our name through the underground. But unfortunately, there were also some downsides to the cooperation with them. For instants, which is not exactly a downside, but nevertheless important to the band, was that they put most of their promotional efforts into the American side of the Atlantic and just very little in Europe, our homeground, where we figured, lay most of the oportunities to play live and do tours. Due to the same reason also, the number of sales of "Choronzonic" lacked behind to expectations and on top of that, the manufacturer also came up with a complete printing of the album with a scratch in the last song and a totally different lay out of our logo and Rob's symbol even disappeared on the CD itself and Full Moon, to our opinion, did not undertake sufficient actions to prevent this particular print from seeing the light of day.

So as a result of these feelings of being dissatisfied, CENTURIAN decided that the time was right to make the switch to LISTENABLE RECORDS where we now have deal for three albums and feel we are at the right spot to make the progression in a professional sense, we figure we are ready for. Up until now they' ve shown utter sincerity and commitment towards us and have been very patient considering the recent line-up changes and delays in the recording process. They, as we do really want CENTURIAN to make the best album within it's capabilities.

And as far as Full Moon is concerned, they did really well for us, but in the end served their purpose! I think CENTURIAN was too big a fish for them to handle. 

6.Is “Choronzonic Chaos Gods” available on vinyl? I haven’t seen it anywhere...Do you prefer vinyl or cd? I believe that the cover would look even greater as a LP-cover...comments?

As far as I know," Choronzonic" has not been released on vinyl. I agree with you that the albumcover would look far more better on a larger format than it does on the CD, but as far as benifits of vinyl are concerned, that would be it; because Death Metal, especially the kind CENTURIAN makes, should sound crisp and clear, without scratches on it. Furthermore, I do not have a recordplayer in my car! Nor at home, come to mention it!

7.Is it correct that the cover of  “Choronzonic Chaos Gods” is drawn in blood? If so, is it Rob’s blood? How big is the original painting? I mean it takes quite a lot of blood if the painting is 500 x  500  centimeters, hehe...

As a matter of fact, I just saw the original the first time in the studio the other day and it is a sick bastard! It even has some patches on it where the blood did not equally devide and then hardened. Fuck, that's what I call dedication,ha,ha! And yes, it is Rob's blood and if you ask me, he still hasn't recovered completely! You can still see the scars on his arm there and he still very pale around the face, ha,ha!! About the format, well....... shame it wasn't released on vinyl!

8.Talking about the cover what does the symbols mean? To me, they look like magic seals or something. Are you involved in magic

The symbol expresses the power of Choronzon and everything Rob interprets as evil. It is triangular and  has also the number "333", the Number of Choronzon in it, which is  numerically, the most Evil one can become as a human. It is a sign which means everything to Rob, and all he stands for and therefore where CENTURIAN stands for, for CENTURIAN initially was and still very much is, a way for Rob to have an outlet for his spiritual beliefs. He now also gets the chance, together with Oskar, to find more and better ways to express his deepest thoughts, As a result you will find out that lyrically, CENTURIAN has become much more Occult and even more hateful. It is magic in itself when you hear what the words have done to the music!

About myself participating in or practising magic is not an easy question to answer, for magic is in the eye of the beholder and what works for me, or better said, what I consider magical or spiritual is very subjective and therefore useless to make public. I have my beliefs, I have my means and I certainly have my ways of getting out of live what I want and need. To some it can be very powerful, others might think of it as futile, so I prefer to keep it to myself.

9.The lyrics are quite “straight in your face” and there is no question about the message... Satanic, blasphemous and anti-Christian. Is Christianity really a threat to people nowadays? Do you feel the same hate against Islam and Judaism?

Yeah, that was Rob getting rid of some of his most deep-rooted thoughts towards the subject, ha,ha! I think they worked great on "Choronzonic"!! As I already revealed in the previous question, I strongly recommend you read the new lyrics of "Liber ZarZax", when it is released in september! They are set out to raise an eyebrow or two, I would say! We're getting much deeper into certain spiritual matters but still keep in mind where we come from and what CENTURIAN stands for.

To answer the latter part of your question, I would like to state, that as long as western societies are dominated by christian law, CENTURIAN will consider them a threat! Same goes for the other big religions you mention. Intelligent question by the way! Most people overhere or in the Metalscene only oppose to christianity, mainly because of the society they were raised in, like I said before, getting some deep-rooted anger out of their systems as  a way of ventilating thoughts of what they experience as rotten and foul in their direct surroundings. Nevertheless we should keep in mind that there are many dangers and raise our voices towards any movement threatening the freedom of will.  

10.As most people have their own vies upon Satan and Satanism, can you tell me yours? What do you think of Church of Satan? Do you agree with La Vey or do you consider these people to be ..eeh...”Hollywood Satanists”?, if you know what I mean...

Being a Satanist or the whole matter of Satanism, in my view, is a very personal matter, it is about minding my own business very much so and taking control, instead of being controlled, being true to myself and to the very few people surrounding me, whom I actually care about. The words "Satanist", or Satanism" itself, I think, do not give a complete description of the subject known as "Occult Knowledge". As far as goes for LaVey, well I think he was a person with a strong opinion and has said some very sensible things, very useful, particularly considering the timeframe in which the Church of Satan emerged, but his orginisation as a whole is indeed something that we as Europeans see in a whole different light of day than americans do. Call it somewhat "overdressed". LaVey was right about one thing for shure and that is that Satanism demands study, not worship! Every leader is a reader, so to speak. There are lots of self-proclaimed "Satanists" around these days, not having a clue what they're dealing with and therefore mocking themselfs and true Satanists. Mainly I would say Satanism is not something which you practise in groups, but by yourself. Even within CENTURIAN, especially with this new line-up, we all have our own ways of dealing with the subject. And we all respect one and others opinions about it. 

11.How’s the death metal climate in Holland? I’ve heard that you play live a lot...Are people banging their heads or are standing in the corner trying to look evil? Can you recommend any unknown, promising bands?

Death Metal in Holland is reclaiming it's rightful terror-tory again. There is a noticable scene around these days. Some very talented young bands have emerged from the clay, like Virulent amongst others and it seems there is more to come. As of playing live a lot, well, I can only give you a report of the 2 shows I have done with CENTURIAN so far and they were killer! If this is a premonition for what is still to come, we' re in for something big! Yeah, I think people here are enjoying their portion of extreme music again these days!

12.Will you continue to use the Q.S.A. Studio? Have you worked with Vincent Dijkers previous to your “Of Purest Fire” demo?

We will use the QSA studio again when Hell freezes over! We are now producing the new album "Liber ZarZax" by our selves at Frankies Recording Kitchen, where we get all the opportunity to work all hours of the day and night in order to use the studiotime available to us to the fullest. With no interference of anyone, other than ourselves! Especially Oskar has proven his productional skills, which I knew he had plenty of. We need no Vincent Dijkers, or anyone else for that matter, to tell us what and foremost HOW to play our music. We and only we know best! Bertus Westerhuis, the owner of the studio sets up all the technical stuff before we start recording and as soon as he is finished doing that and we' ve agreed with the sound, he closes the door behind him and leaves us to it. And no, I have never had the pleasure of working with Vincent Dijkers in the past, maybe he will do our livesound sometime, you never know..... 

13.On your demo, which later became a mini-cd, you are covering MORBID ANGEL’S “Blasphemy”. Is there any chance that there’ll be any more covers from CENTURIAN?

No, because it is no longer of use to CENTURIAN since we have plenty songs nowadays which have enough power and potential to be of equal, or maybe even higher quality.

14.If I’m not mistaking you guys are a bit older than most people who are about to release a  2nd album. A lot of people have a tendency to wimp out when they’ve been doing brutal metal for years...What keeps you going? What do you think is the biggest differences if you compare the present and when you got into the scene?

There are more so-we-call-them "short-haired whimps" around than in the early days (for me that would be in the eighties)!!! What ever happened to the proud fashion-victims, that filled the masses with disgust? Where are those Samsons nowadays? Hmm, what keeps me going you ask? Get a hold of a seat I would suggest, ha,ha! I will try to keep it short! Man, I don't see myself doing any other kind of music with the same drive than I do with CENTURIAN! It is a fucking way of life! Yes  off course, personally you tend to 'mellow down' a bit as you learn what is really important in life, but I honestly do not see myself 'wimp out' anytime soon. I am now in my late twenties and tell you what, for me and Oskar, it will be our first studioalbum we have evermade! Why? Because we were so damned set to make the best music as we were able to, that making an album did not come to mind, unless there would be a recordcompany interested enough to support us the way we thought our music deserved to be supported, under our conditions! We have been sticking to our standards for almost more than seven years and now, finally we can bring to practise what we have trained and worked so damned hard for! I am agitated enough with this world, it's inhabitants and their mongrol religions that I have the feeling I am just getting started! This music has allowed me to be who I really want to be and has stuck with me in times of personal hardship, all the way! My music has always been there as a constant factor, for better or worse, it is like my own religion, I call my own shots and damnit, it is what I do fucking best!

15.Your new album – Liber ZarZax – What can you tell us about it? And what about the title?

It is going to be a killer I tell you!! As a musician I feel very proud to be a part of what is happening with this particular recording-project! The music seems to be 'alive', to use an abstract way to describe it. When you hear it, I gather you will hopefully understand what I mean. It has become a spiritual apotheosis, musically as wel as lyrically. I really believe it will take CENTURIAN all the way to the major league of brutal bands. The lyrics have profound meaning and the music really emphasises the lyrics superbly in each song!

"Liber ZarZax" is "The book of ZarZax". The songs and lyrics of the new CENTURIANCD have everything to do with Chaos, Satan and Death. It's like a book or grimoire glorifying the end of the World. 

"Liber ZarZax"; The book of the power of the tenth Aethyr (Tenth Aethyr = The outermost abyss). The book is carnivorous and hungry. It is a means of feeding flesh to the vortex. A gateway into nothingness. 333 ! The title has a very occult load and summarizes exactly what this whole album is about. when you listen to the songs it is like you are reading this Evil book, though not all the songs tell you exactly the same story over and over again, each of the songs has it's own malignace and foulness, precisely that is what defines "ZarZax" ! It is Evil and Chaos in its broadest sense! Read it; It will drive you stark raving mad!!!

ZarZax sounds familiar somehow... How does your new material differs from the old? Do you have any new titles that you could reveal?

"ZarZax"Literally means: of the tenth Aethyr. The tenth Aethyr is the world where Choronzon resides, which is called Zax. Way back in the 17th century, there was an occultist, Dr. John Dee, who formulated a magical system to visit magical spheres. This system contains 30 different spheres (Aethyrs) of which one is called Zax (The tenth Aethyr). Zax is a non-dimensional sphere where nothing exists, yet everything is. It is comparible to Hell. It's a place between life and death, a place of Chaos, where everything is possible. The name ZarZax can be given to any entity, thing or happening which contains the dark, destructive part of Chaos. !! The new material will be more sophisticated than any previous work CENTURIAN has ever done! Things were thought all over and it has had it effect on the music. The songs and messages tend to be more to the point but havn' t lost any of it's power CENTURIAN is renowned for! You will not be disappointed. Some of the new titles are: 'Forever Commited to Hell', 'Fornicating the Nazarene' and Heading for Holocaust'. The rest will be reveiled in good time, just a little more patience, I am not about to give all the classics away to the competition!!Ha, ha!

16.On the “Choronzonic...” you have only used one of the demo songs, Soultheft. Are you going to feature any of the other songs on “Liber ZarZax”, or do you want fresh material only?

As a matter of fact, we have also re-recorded the track "Hell at Last" from the demo, for it really deserved a good production and a little make-over lyrically, but not too much though! The songs sounds fuckin' brilliant with all the new elements. It was something we strongly felt, neede to be done, in order to do the song justice! All the rest of the songs are indeed new and fresh!

17.Which bands got you into death metal? Are the good ol’ bands still what inspires you the most, or are there any newer bands that affects you? If I say that DEICIDE seems to be a great source of inspiration, do you agree or do you wish to kick my arse?

Yeah, Deicide and Morbid Angel were and are still my heroes! Their music is timeless and can be played repeatedly! It never gets boring! Some of the newer bands like Krisiun, Hate Eternal and quite a few more can erouse my utter interest!

18.Now a pretty unimportant question, The vocalist in INQUISITOR was quite into smoking funny herbs, right?  Is it true that he refused to play live in a country that didn’t have as liberal drug laws as Holland? What do you think about this, are you into it?

The old Inquisitor vocalist did not have his priorities straightened out! No, I personally do not get my kicks out of it. All substances which prevent me from being in control of myself and what occurs around me, are what I would like to call 'not my cup of tea'. I live for making music only and do not care for all the shit surrounding it. Pretty uncool, huh?! See if I care! (NOT!) But if it works for you or anyone else, please enjoy! Whatever floats your boat, man! I do not care!

19.What about touring? Will there be a world wide Dutch assault in the near future ?And when the hell can we expect a visit to Sweden? Are you familiar with the Swedish scene? Are you in contact with any bands/zines from Sweden?

Personally, I am pretty much to myself and therefore do not have too many contacts (just as yet) in the scene.  To me mostly, my own music was the scene! It will progress pretty soon I recon! I 'know' You now, right? As far as touring is concerned and visiting Sweden; well, you Swedish metal fans buy extremely many copies of our new album and force the agencies into booking us!! We are open to suggestions all the time, man! To conclude, we expect this new album to do very well, but we are still a bit cautious when it comes to making predictions. We' re still in the music-business here.....

20.Well, thanx for your time and good luck with CENTURIAN in the future. At last, tell me which SLAYER tune you prefer to listen to while you’re taking a bath...

Yeah, man! Thank you for taking an interest in CENTURIAN, I really enjoyed doing this interview! Slayer? In the bathtub? first of all, musically I only live for CENTURIAN and "Liber ZarZax" I am afraid!! And seconds, when I take a bath I rather enjoy a good conversation with my beautiful woman!

Life can be so rewarding at times!

  Back To Top

CENTURIAN interview Noise Magazine.

Questions by Peter Cousart, answers by Rob and Wim. (Jan. 2001)


Introduction;

Working on our second issue, we'll try to be true to our little philosophy:
music as an art and our writing as a deep reflection on that art. Our aim
is to support only bands that we truly hold in our hearts and respect. Over
thelast years, it has been quite difficult to find bands that gave us the
possibility to respect them (although this might sound little pretentious
of us). Most bands seem to forget about the heart of music, the essence, the
honesty of true music. But every night has at least some lightening stars
in it's dark gloomy immensity, and those few flickering heavenly bodies are
the ones we're looking at.
We do not want to become a magazine that focuses only on metal. The heavy
type of music is only some kind of starting-point, a road to walk so we
don't get lost in a world where it is quite impossible to overview the many
releases in all kinds of music. So fuck those nasty genre borders and lets
deal with bands like Pink Floyd and Darkthrone to When and Winter.  Our aim
is to become a relatively "timeless" magazine. Words can only conquer time
if they hit the bottom, if they deal with the essence of a subject. And our
subject is, as said,  music.
This is meant to be an interview, so let's take off. Only this: answer
these questions on a comfortable moment. Sit down on your sofa, have a beer and a
cigarette, relax and be true to yourself. These questions are only meant to
be an indicator, a red line, which means it is up to you which ones you
want to reply or not. Tell us what you want to (and how deep as you like ), so
if you want to diverge from the questions, be our guest!!! (Your invention is
one of our main keys.)



 1. Would you call Centurian an anti-Christian or a satanic band?  Where do
you think the line can be drawn?  Can we trace something philosophical in
the view behind Centurian?  Is Centurian in a way a spiritual band?

-(R) Centurian is a Satanic band. Ofcourse we have some anti-christian
elements in our lyrics but on the over-all our ideas are Satanic: We glorify
Satan, chaos and Death. The anti-christian elements have to do with
christian religion, how it effects humans and the way it has effected our
law-system. It's earthy. The Satanic side of Centurian lies in the fact that
we invocate Satanic forces and introduce them to our listeners. It's
spiritual. So the line can be drawn between life and death. That's also the
realm where the supreme demon of Chaos resides: Choronzon ! Centurian stands
for mad, twisted thinking; nothing is certain, everything is permitted. We
don't believe in limitations, there's only Chaos and the Gods above god.

2. "Choronzonic chaos gods"; can you define the background of the title and
do the lyrics in general point at the title of the album?   How important
are lyrics in Centurian anyway?

-(R) Choronzonic Chaos Gods are the entities in the void of Choronzon. They
are here for the sake of disorder, to fuck up our minds and to swallow each
and everything that crosses their path. Songs like "In The Name Of Chaos"
and "Blood For Satan" are about overture to Satanic-Chaotic forces. A Song
like "Hail Caligula!!!" is about the most cruel emperor ever to walk the
earth. His thinking and reasoning stood free from every kind of moral
thought. So yes, there's a connection between title and lyrics. The lyrics
are as important as the music. Both tell a story, it's up to us to bring
them together in the right way. They mutually enstrangthen themselves.

3. Is there a difference between Centurian from the cdemo and the last
album?  What has changed during the last years.

-(R) The biggest difference: we progressed in technique and songwriting.
We're faster now, we sound more mature. Lyrical wise: the biggest difference
is that our concept is much more clearer which has everything to do with me
progressing as a Satanist and chaos-magician. I grow in my ideas and doings.
The demo was just Satanic and blasphemous, the "Choronzonic Chaos Gods" CD
goes deeper into what I do and what I think.

4. Do you have the feeling that there's an insurmountable connection
between the things you have released so far?

5. Not so long ago I heard somebody say; "it's better to regret things that
you have done, then regret things you haven't done".  I have my doubts
about
this. Can you agree with him and in what way can you relate it to the band
(things that happened or not)?

-(R) I don't agree with that quote. Like Glenn Benton once said: Never
repent ! One could regret about mistakes and failures, but mistakes and
failures are there to learn from and to help one become an individual. One
of the reasons is what's I think so silly about christianity is that god
will forgive. He won't let you learn from mischieves when you fuck something
up, you go to church, show  penance and you're free to do it again. Let me
tell you: when you fuck something up Satanically, you'll got punished and
you'll never de it again. That's why Satnists and Chaoists are much more
vital then the christian cattle. To be glad to know that you didn't do
something (Be it good or evil - I don't like to use these terms, but it will
be easier for the reader to understand what I mean) is to deny your own
will. One must do what he wants and become able to do it, otherwise you will
end up like a christian; frustrated, searching for answers and ending up
with god's dick in you mouth.
Centurian is chaos. Chaos doesn'tthink, it just does and it is. Chaos knows
no repention. Chaos is compelled by nothing, chaos bows for nothing.

6. If there's one thing within Death Metal than it's for sure conservatism.
Wouldn't it be more interesting when some people would try to take some
risks?  Ok, a band like Nile is adding Egyptian music, but for me that
isn't more than a gimmick.  What Centurian has done in some songs sounds much
more interesting.  Do you think you can add something?  Are you going to
experiment some more in the near future ('cause in a way the experiment
still is pretty decent)?  Don't you want to challenge yourself and the listener?

-(R) I don't think Death Metal is conservative. There's no form in music
where one is free to use all kinds of styles. Be it blues, jazz or classical
music. Over the years Death Metal has grown in technique and songwriting
incredibly (thanks to bands like Morbid Angel, Nile, Hate Eternal,
Suffocation, Cryptopsy) compared to other kinds of music. Ofcourse there are
conservative bands like Deicide or Krisiun - bands who just want to blow
away, what I personally like the best - but I think it's not that necessary
to write "new"stuff. What I do believe in is perfection: improving the
quality of what you're writin and the way you play it.
About risk: what is risk ? For example: if a band wants to play fast but
their musicians end up going not tight with each other, going way off track,
then that band runs the risk not being taken seriously by the listeners as a
fast band. You can add a flute to your music and run the risk of being
tagged 'homosexual'. There are no risks: it sounds good or it sucks, just do
what you want. Like I am into Satanism, Karl Sanders of Nile is into
Egyptology which you can hear in his music. If Karl Sanders was singing and
writing about what I do, then that would be a gimmick, because he's not
interested in being a Satanist. I think Nile is one of the greatest bands of
the last years. Their riffing is very special, like the drums and
everything. It is a very creative and inventive band, with a lot of
atmosphere in their music.
About Centurian: The only possible thing I would like to add is that I would
like to make Centurian sound more Satanic and Chaotic which you will hear on
our next record.
Don't we want to challenge ourself and our listener? If you knew how hard it
is to play the Centurian music you wouldn't aske me that question. Since it
is a challenge for me to transform a feeling into music and to play it 333
miles an hour. The listener is masochistic enough to take the challenge of
listening to extreme music without getting insane or social-distorted.

7. Another thing is improvisation. within the metal scene we don't see too
much off this.  Look at Hip Hoppers for example (not that I like their
music), rock-bands or deejays, where improvisation is almost something
natural.  The consequence is that sometimes you get a lousy gig but at
other moments its magic.  Why is it that people in Metal are afraid to do
something like a jam on stage?  Does it has something to do with musical
ignorance (wasn't Black Sabbath a band with frustrated blues-musicians)?

-(R) It's hard to improve in especially Death Metal because most of the time
the music is chromatic, that means that the music isn't written in one
particular key, like in blues or popmusic. The music is far to intricate to
improvise on. Everything is bounded: from the vocals to the drums. You can
improvise but then you'll end up sounding like Bestial Summoning or
Abruptum. (what also can be great sometimes(W)) There's also the fact that
(Death) metal is very loud. The occasion that a band has an optimal sound on
stage (that is to say: when the musicians of the band can hear themselves
and eachother on stage decently) will rarely take place. There's to much
happening in Death Metal to improvise on.

8. Where is it that you draw most inspiration from?  Does it has something
to do with feelings, music from other bands, nature, .?  What is the most
important; material or immaterial things?

-(R) Inspiration comes from what I do and what I know (believe in). Someone
like Caligula can inspire me, a painting or piece of music can inspire me.
My music comes from desire and disgust. I sincerely would like to go out
with a rifle, step into a church and gun down everyone. I try to capture
things like that on guitar and in my lyrics. Most of the material comes from
chaos magic. things I see and feel during ritual.

9. Can you name five objects with which you can typify the band Centurian
(incl. some explanation)?

-(R) 5 objects:
-Satan: The one who license us to waste the world and it's worms.
-Chaos: The source of everything.
-Death: Giver of life.
-To kill god and his flock: A noble duty I'm working on with pleasure.
-Self-mutilation: Sacrificed to all of the above.

10. Just like me, I think you're in a way attracted to the Metal scene (our
involvement says enough I think).  Still, a lot off critics can be given on
this scene, at least as far as I'm concerned.  Are there tendencies,
aspects, topics, whatever .  that you see as less attractive or that you
can  take as object for critics?  Can you do this for the metal scene in
general, the black metal scene as well as the death metal scene?

-(R) -Lack of integrity
-Lack of creativity
-Lack of extremity
-Lack of originality
-Lack of  interesting people.
A lot of these plaque a lot of bands.

11. Can you also give a description of the interesting, adorable and
attractive parts of these scenes?

-(R) It brought forth a band like Deicide. But the nicest thing about metal
is that I'm pretty good in doing it.

12. You played on the Milwaukee Metalfest. what are that kind of
experiences doing with a band?  How did the crowd react on the band's
live-presentation
anyway?  Did it have a big influence on sales figures and do you see
playing live as the best salesmanship?

-(R) To play at a gig like the one at the Milwaukee Metal Fest (and even got
paid for it !) is a great opportunity to make more people familiar with your
music. That also reflects on sales ofcourse. It has some kind of prestige
over it which makes it more exciting. It's a step towards more employment as
a band. The crowd went crazy by the way, which was a little of surprise for
us, as our record hasn't been released at the time.

13. The co-operation with Full Moon ended in the beginning of the year,
because FMP couldn't support Centurian in Europe (as you said; where we
need it the most).  You signed to Listenable records, why was it that you choose
for this label?  Did it had something to do with the other bands on that
label or was it merely because they gave the best conditions?

-(W) Exactly the reason that made us quite Full Moon. Listenable Records
does a very good job promoting their bands, here in Europe as well as over
the world. Some of their bands are doing very well, not only because of the
music but partly because of the great work of the label. Also the conditions
they promised, which are damned good, made us sign. Another big reason: we
wanted a label in range of a few hours. So when they would fuck up, I can
jump in my car and beat the shit out of the guys.

14. The cover shows some kind of a demon with six sharp arms which is
surrounded by symbols.  Do you think it's better that the cover is
interpreted by the viewer, or would you mind telling us something about
what it means to the band and to you personally?

-(R) When I create something, it's done because of sending a message. I want
to make something clear for the listener. I think I'm pretty direct in doing
that. However there are of course people with their own interpretation which
is fine. But I like it the most when a person comes to me saying he can
realy relate to what I'm doing.

15. Two Centurian members are also involved in Severe Torture. is their
involvement in Centurian bigger than in Severe Torture?  Do you know where
they see the difference between making music for both bands?

-(W) The two members playing in Severe Tortue were thrown out of Centurian
last December. Their involvement in Severe Torture was bigger and because of
that they didn't have time enough to spend on Centurian. When we recruted
them in the beginning we made it very clear to them that playing in
Centurian will take all your energy and time available. So when we told them
that they no longer were a part of Centurian because of that reason they
understood us very well. Only one month after their departure we are
complete again. We have a new bassplayer/singer but also a new guitarplayer.
 For the first time Centurian will play with two guitarplayers what will
make our music even more interesting and better, especially live. Both new
members, named Jerry (Bass/Vox) and Oskar (Guitar) are very experience and
have great technical skills. Both are also very much related to our lyrics
and ideas.

16. Will there other projects be launched with Centurian members?  I heard
something about a project with Monstrosity members and the manager from
Vader?  Can you also tell us something about what we can expect in the
future from the band?

-(W) At this point there will be no other projects with our members because
we are too damned busy preparing ourselves for new shows and the new CD.
Seth (our former singer) maybe was joining a project but I haven't heard
more about it. Our plans for the future are very big: First ofcourse we must
play the entire set of songs with our new members and this is a hell of a
job but it's going very good. In april I will start recording the drums for
our next CD and in May and June the CD will be finished by the others and
with the mix. Listenable Records will release the CD in September. One month
before they start a big promotion campaign all over the world. We are also
preparing new shows. First we're going to do a serie of try-out gigs in
April and May and when the CD is released we hope to do our first tour
onwhich Listenable is working right now. We don't know where and with who
but their are lots of bands that want Centurian on their tours. For latest
news about this check our website at: www.CenturianChaos.com or Listenable's
website at: www.Listenable.net

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CENTURIAN interview Mandrake Magazine.

Questions by Mandrake Magazine, answers by Wim. (Oct. 2000)

1 Allereerst gefeliciteerd met de goede verkopen voor "Choronzonic...". Opwelk aantal zijn jullie inmiddels? Hoeveel verkopen jullie in Nederland, hoeveel in Europa, hoeveel de rest? Ik vraag dat omdat jullie aangaven bij Full Moon Productions weg te zijn vanwege hun gebrekkige promotie in Europa. Hebben jullie dat gemerkt in de verkopen.

-Ja, dank U. Er zijn ongeveer 5 a 6000 "Of Purest fire"mini-CDs verkocht en zelfs meer "Choronzonic Chaos Gods" CDs. We verkopen meer in de US en in Zuid-Amerika dan hier, maar we krijgen verder geen enkel overzicht van Full Moon Productions. Wij zijn inderdaad weg bij Full Moon vanwege de promotie in Europa (dat er dus helemaal niet was, terwijl het wel beloofd was) en omdat we dat ook veel nodig i.v.m. optredens enzo. Verder is Full Moon een zeer onproffesioneel label; ze werken met slechte CD drukkers etc etc. Wel hebben ze hele goede promotie voor ons gedaan in de US wat ons daar zeer veel goede reviews en naamsbekendheid opleverde.

2 Jullie hadden een contract bij FMP voor twee volle CD's, dus afgezien van "Of purest fire". Hoe zit het met die tweede? Komt er nog iets uit op FMP? Zo niet, hoe zijn jullie onder het contract uit gekomen? Stond er iets injullie contract over hoeveel promotie FMP voor jullie moest doen?

-Ze zagen zelf in dat ze in gebreken gebleven waren. We hebben ze voor de keus gesteld; of goed doen of we gaan er vandoor. Ze konden niet waarmaken wat ze beloofden, en dat gaven ze ook toe, dus hebben we wat anders gezocht. Er komt dus niks meer van Centurian uit via Full Moon. Als een label in een contract zegt "de best mogelijke promotie" moet je dus maar afwachten wat je krijgt !! Maar nogmaals; de promotie in de US was zeer goed, we zijn daar een zeer bekende band geworden mede dankzij hun promotie.

3 Aanvankelijk waren jullie erg tevreden over FMP en hun promotie. Zijn zij minder gaan doen of werden jullie eisen hoger. Zijn jullie en FMP als vrienden uit elkaar gegaan?

-Naarmate wij beter gingen draaien en bekender werden verwachten we ook meer van hun (vooral promotie in Europa). Ze beloofde eerst veel promotie hier te gaan doen en keken toen pas hoeveel dat ging kosten !! Verder was er nog het probleem met hun CD perser die hele persingen met krassen op de markt gooide en toen ook nog de beloofde toeren die niet door gingen, toen was de maat vol. De eerste maanden was er geen kontact meer, nu is er weer contact op een redelijk niveau. Maar nu krijgen we weer het volgende probleem met Full Moon. Gisteren kreeg ik CDs opgestuurd van Dwell Records uit L.A. De "Morbid Angel" tribute CD om precies te zijn. Wij hebben Full Moon gezegd dat als we op deze CD konden komen, wij een nieuw nummer op gingen nemen; wat doet Full Moon; ze zetten toch "Blasphemy" van onze eerste demo (met een kut geluid) op deze tribute waar wij dus hele maal niks van af wisten ???? Dat bedoel ik dus met onproffesioneel !!!

4 Over Listenable: Hebben zij jullie benaderd of jullie hun? Waarom juist Listenable? Waarom niet een groter label?

-Ik merk dat je niet op de hoogte bent van Listenable Records; Listenable heeft zeer bekende bands en ze verkopen zeer veel CDs. Listenable werkt veel samen met grotere labels als Metal Blade en Century media en doet ook zeer goede promotie. Bij Listenable zitten o.a. Deranged, Soilwork, Abscess, Devilyn, Grief Of Emerald en nu ook Aborted en Centurian. Ik ken de Label Manager al meer dan tien jaar, en toen hij hoorde dat we niet met Full Moon verder gingen nam hij weer kontact met me op. Waarom geen groter label ?? Listenalbe wordt een groter label..let maar op.

5 Hoe gaat het met de voorbereidingen voor de nieuwe plaat? Al een CD-titel? Titels van nummers? Wordt hij weer opgenomen met Vincent Dijkers in QSA?

-Bijna alle nummers zijn klaar, we zijn met de laatste twee bezig. We gaan niet meer naar de QSA studio, die tijd hebben we gehad. We willen nu naast goede nummers ook een zeer goed geluid. QSA is leuk voor een demo maar eigenlijk hadden we "C.C.G." daar ook niet op moeten nemen. Binnenkort hoor je waar we em op gaan nemen en wanneer. Een titel van de CD kan ik nog niet geven, wel van enkele nummers: "Heading for Holocaust", "Beyond god", For the Glory of Satan" & Forever Forgotten".

6 Hoe staan jullie tegenover de productie van "Choronzonic..." ten opzichte van "Of purest fire"? Wat kan er verbeterd worden op een volgende plaat?

-Na "Of Purest Fire" zijn we weer naar de QSA studio gegaan omdat er nieuwe apparatuur e.d. aanwezig zou zijn waarmee we een veel beter geluid neer konden zetten. Maar dat viel dus achteraf een beetje tegen. Komende keer gaan we een veel profesioneler geluid neer zetten. We zijn als band ook beter geworden en willen dat het geluid nu eindelijk ook eens goed wordt. "Choronzonic…" klinkt best wel ruig en OK, maar het kan ondanks de keiharde muziek tien keer beter.

7 Even over "Choronzonic...". Wat betekent Choronzon voor jullie? Komt hier volgens jullie iets van terug in de teksten? Wat is de betekenis van het getal 333? Waarom is de hoes in bloed getekend? Goede marketing of heeft het een diepere betekenis?

-Choronzon betekend het einde van alles wat met god en orde te maken heb. "In the name of Chaos " zegt dat als de pleuris op deze wereld echt los barst, met name in landen waar het christendom hoogtij viert, zullen we wel eens zien wie er ongeschonden doorheen komt. De rest van de teksten spreken voor zich: dood aan alles wat heilig is, dood aan alles wat chaos in de weg staat. 333 is het getal van Choronzon en dus het getal van chaos. De hoes is getekend in bloed uit loyaliteit voor Choronzon en Satan en om aan te tonen dat we dit niet voor de lol doen, maar een heel serieuze zaak is. Het is namelijk heel makelijk om je hoes vol te zetten met demonen en pentagrammen terwijl je in je vrije tijd geen fuck doet voor Satan. Als het voor de marketing was dan hadden we wel geklonken als Take That of de Venga Boys.". Godverredomme, natuurlijk heeft het een diepere betekenis. Rob, met wie ik Centurian samen begonnen ben en degene die verantwoordelijk is voor alle teksten en het Centurian concept, was al minstens 5 jaar voordat we Centurian begon met Satanisme bezig.

8 Wat vinden jullie van de positieve reacties van bijvoorbeeld een Erik Rutan die altijd in een Centurian shirt optreedt?

-Vinden we kut !!!!!!! Nee, natuurlijk is dat super gaaf, wat denk je dan ????? Het valt op dat veel muzikanten van ander bands helemaal wild zijn van onze muziek. Volgens mij komt dat vooral door de super geniale gitaar lijnen van Rob, er zijn maar weinig mensen die zo geniaal, snel, hard en ingewikkeld kunnen spelen. Naast Morbid Angel hebben we meer bekende bands met Centurian shirts zien spelen, b.v. Cannibal Corpse, Marduk, Angelcorpse, Krisiun, Immolation en meer.

9 Hoe diep zit jullie haat tegen het christendom? Zijn jullie zelf (streng) christelijk opgevoed? Of zijn de teksten meer als algemeen typerend voor death metal te beschouwen? In hoeverre vinden jullie de teksten anders dan van Inquisitor? Persoonlijk vind ik ze erg vergelijkbaar, hoewel de muziek volkomen anders is.

-Dan moet je de teksten nog maar eens goed doorlezen. Inquisitor en Centurian zijn totaal verschillend !!!! Inquisitor was een anti-christelijke band door overal tegen aan te schoppen, zonder er dieper op in te gaan. Centurian is een Satanische band met teksten die zeer belangrijk zijn in het gehele concept, minstens zo belangrijk als de muziek. De teksten zijn verder zeer serieus en gaan diep in de Satanische materie. Op de nieuwe Centurian website, waar ik mee bezig ben, worden van alle nummers de teksten uitgelegt, en voor nog verdere uitleg dan dat moet je Rob maar eens aanschiten bij een centurian gig.

10 Is destijds na het vertrek van Erik de muziekstijl al gewijzigd voordat de naam werd veranderd? Was de voorgenomen stijlverandering een reden voor zijn vertrek?Hoe kijken jullie nu aan tegen de muziek van Inquisitor?

-Inquisitor schijnt nog steeds een hele goede naam te hebben. Vooral de laatste tijd krijg ik veel vragen over merchandise etc. De muziek van Inquisitor was Trash/Death metal terwijl we met Centurian pure Death Metal spelen. Dit is geen keuze geweest maar is zo gelopen. In het laatste jaar van Inquisitor waren er wat problemen; ik had de zanger en bassist eruit geschopt vanwege totale anti-interesse en Erik is toen naar Ancient Rites vertrokken omdat ie dacht daar meer te kunnen bereiken. Ik heb doorgezet en naar nieuwe mensen gezocht om Inquisitor voor te zetten. Toen ik Rob en Seth, en later Patrick vond, veranderde het geluid zodanig dat we als een hele andere band klonken, dus leek het beter om ook een andere naam te hebben. Hier hebben we nooit spijt van gehad, want Centurian loopt tien keer beter als Inquisitor en wordt vooral veel professioneler aangezien.

11 Jullie kunnen goed profiteren van de heroplevende extreme death metal denk ik. Zien jullie dat zo? In hoeverre gaan jullie muzikaal evolueren? Kunnen we meer stijveranderingen verwachten of gaan jullie eerst deze muzikale formule voortzetten/perfectioneren.

-Hoezo heroplevend ???? Death Metal leeft altijd, soms wat minder opvallend dan anders maar Death Metal blijft altijd. Ik denk niet dat wij profiteren van Death Metal, wij zijn Death Metal. Centurian heeft er zeker aan bijgedragen dat Death Metal weer zo populair is !!!! Toen we "Of Purest Fire" opnamen werd er alleen maar Keyboard-Black-Homo metal gespeeld waar wij keihard tegen in gingen en wat nodig was zo blijkt uit de verkoop cijfers van de mini-CD. Centurian zal natuurlijk evolueren, maar dan in de zin van: uitbreiden van het extreme concept, perfectioneren van de muziek en voortzetten van de Chaos. De muziek en de Chaos zullen overwinnen.

12 Hoe gaat het met Severe Torture en de Feasting on Blood CD die eind deze maand moet verschijnen?

-Daar moet je Severe Torture maar voor bellen ha ha ha. Nee, de CD is nu uit en krijgt zeer goede reakties; kopen die schijf!!!!!!!!!!!! Maar let vooral op de nieuwe Centurian die rond April 2001 in de winkels moet leggen.

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CENTURIAN interview Psychosis Death 'zine.

Questions by Fernando Rombola, answers by Wim. (Dec. 2000)

 
1 - The cause of change the name of the band from Inquisitor to Centurian was only because of the fact that both started to play more extreme and aggressive or did you have any other reason?
 
-I was playing for seven years in Inquisitor and had a very good time, but after some problems I had to kick out two members and a other member left to join Ancient Rites from Belgium. I wanted to continue Inquisitor with new members but when I found them both sound and style of the band changed a lot so at that point it was better to start all over again as a complete new band: Centurian
 
2 - How did you start everything again with Centurian?
 
-Rob and I first wanted to continue Inquisitor as I told in the previous answer but everything changed. The new songs were much faster and totaly DEATH Metal, so we started as a new band: Centurian.  In the first month we focused on new tracks as well as some old Inquisitor songs. We also found a singer a few months later and we started to play gigs. After practising for about eight months we recorded our first demo "Of Purest Fire" which got shit-loads of great reviews all over the underground and which let to a record deal with Full Moon Productions from the USA.
 
3 - You played for 7 years on Inquisitor and almost more 4 years with Centurian. Which are worst things that you lived? What did you learn with these facts?
 
-Biggest problem for most bands still is the lack of money. You all want to play your music all day but you also need that fuckin' job to get some money for your equipment and beers. Gig-promotors and managers from places where bands play also still doesn't pay good money for a good band. What also is a big problem is promotion. A band needs good promotion. You can make the best music of the whole world but when your label doesn't promote you enough nobody will know your music. But this is also a money related problem I think. What can we do about these things: When you arrange concerts: Put a gun against someones head while you are negotiating about the price for a gig or while you put a contract together with your label.
 
4 - Which was the best moment?
 
-Playing the Milwaukee Metal fest together with 160 bands, among them our friends of Krisiun, Nile and Immolation. It was a damned good weekend overthere; we made loads of friends puked lots of that strange Miller beer and stuffed Centurian in a lot of throats. We hope to be back there after our next CD is released and hope to play a set which is longer then the 30 minutes what is normal for that Festival.
 
5 - The first called "Of Purest Fire" has excelent results. How many copies did  you distribute in form demo and Cd?
 
-First I made 100 tape-versions which I send out for free to about 100 people, maily Mags, Labels etc. After that we sold about 300 demo-tapes and 100 promo-CDs ourselves. When Full Moon released the mini-CD version they first send out over 500 promo-copies and after that they sold over 4000 copies till now.
 
6 - The cover of "Choronzonic Cahos Gods" was made by Rob. But he painted it in his own blood. Which was the reason and meaning of this act?
 
-By painting the "Choronzonic Chaos Gods" cover in his own blood he was making sure how serious he is, not only in his ideas and mind but especialy with his deeds.
 
7 - How many shows did you make spread "Choronzonic Chaos Gods"?
 
-The Milwaukee show was the first show where we promoted the "Choronzonic..." CD and after that we mostly played two times each month. Half of the the shows were abroad; in Belgium, France and Germany. When our new CD will be released in 2001 we start doing shows all over Europe. I am working on shows in Italy; Poland; Sweden and France and we hope to promote that CD live on stage in the USA again
 
8 - How many copies did you distribute of this work?
 
-Full Moon send out about 800 promo-copies and till now they sold 5 - 7000 copies. We are not very sure about the numbers cause we haven't have a good contact with the label anymore. We hope to re-install the relation soon 'cause still many people like to get the Centurian stuff released by Full Moon.
 
9 - Do you have any other music that not was put on Cd?
 
-No, besides the "Of Purest Fire" demo/mini-CD and the "Choronzonic chaos Gods" CD we don't have any releases. There are a lot of compilation CDs with Centurian stuff but all that is taken from one of our CDs. For example, we have a track on the "Tribute to Morbid Angel" CD by Dwell Records.
 
10 - How'll be the new work of Centurian ? Whe'll be it record?
 
-All music and lyrics are ready for the next CD. We start recording in April 2001 and hope to release it in September. Because of the recent changes in the band it will problably be different but in the right direction. We have a new bassplayer/singer and for the first time we work with a second guitarplayer. Ofcourse the music is in the Centurian style but we will play more solos and more technical guitar stuff. However, the songs are a lot faster then before. Also the vocals will differ a lot. As we look at it now, the new CD will be as a big killing hurricane coming out of your stereo, even worse then it ever was. Be aware!!!!!!
 
11 - One of Centurian's influence is Krisiun. Do you know other bands of the brazilizan extreme scene?
 
-Yep, I know a lot of them. Krisiun is my all-time favourite but Abhorrence is doing absolutely great. There new CD will in Europe be released by our label Listenable, so maybe we can do some shows or a tour together in the coming years. Rebealliun is also great and so are Ophiolatry, Mental Horror, Ancestral Malediction and more. Brasilian bands have a sort of rage which make you go crazy!!!!!!!!!
 
12 - How's the undeground scene in Holland?
 
-Not bad, I think. We have some great bands like Severe torture, Payemia, Inhume, Virulent and many more but there is also a lot bullshit going on, like in everyother country.
 
13 - How're the shows of Centurian?
 
-A Centurian show is like a chaos-ritual; Disturbing, Fucking-up the peace and Mind-distorting.
 
14 - Is the Centurian sufficiently financial to you live or you have any other activity apart from band?
 
-A band like Centurian doesn't pay-off at all. We all need jobs for our daily beer and other needs. Ofcourse we earn some money with our gigs and CDs, but this not even cover all costs of equipment etc. If you play music for the money you'd better be a Back Street Boy or a Britney Spears, that earns money. But money is not the reason that we play it, we play it 'cause we damned like it and because there's nothing else for us. But metal still rules!!!!!!!! (except for the payments ha ha ha)
 
15 - Leave your message to the followers of the extreme underground.
 
-first I must apoligize for all delays but now Centurian is doing so damned OK things as mail are taking up all my time. So, for people waiting for some sort of Centurian mail...please be patient, your answer will come.
To everyone interested in Centurian I must say: Hail Choronzon!!!! Hail Chaos !!!! The next Centurian will be an attack on all your lovely lives; from the moment you'll hear it CHAOS will take over...... Serve SATAN and agitate as much as you can !!!!!!
 
16 - Do you have any other thing to thing to speak that we don't ask?
 
-I take this opportunity to tell you about the recent changes in the band. As you maybe allready have heared, Rob and I decided to continue Centurian without Bassplayer Patrick and without Singer Seth. They both were very busy with other things beside Centurian which leave them very little time for the band. Centurian is a band that forges their members to participate 100% and when that's not possible we move one without them, and so we did. This doesn't mean that there has been a fight or whatever. Patrick and Seth both understand our meaning and will continue supporting Centurian, we also stay close friends and will sure be seen in bars together.
-But.....for a couple of weeks Rob and I were looking for new members and this week we found great replacements: From now on Centurian has a new Bassplayer/Singer, named Jerry. Next to him we will from now on also work with a second guitarplayer. His name is Oscar and he's just a person as Rob is: Brilliant on guitar and very interested in lyrical site of the band. So, the new Centurian line-up is:
Jerry - Vocals/Bassguitar,  Rob - Rythem & Lead guitar,  Oscar - Rythem & Lead guitar,  Wim - Drums.
-I also hereby want to tell that the recording of our new CD will continue as planned. We start recording in April and our label Listenable Records will release the CD in September of 2001. All music and lyrics is ready by now and at this time we are working on lay-outs etc. This new Centurian CD will be a new standard in Brutal Death Metal; it will be brutal as Centurian was before but next to that it also will be extremely fast and yet technical and full of solo guitar stuff. For example: try to mix Krisiun and early Morbid Angel and you know what I am talking about.............  Be aware !!!!!!!!
For all latest info, merchandise etc. check out  www.CenturianChaos.com

 

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CENTURIAN interview Infernal Nation Magazine.

Questions by Lebzul, answers by Wim. (Jan. 2001)

 

Hails Wim!! How's everything going on in The Netherlands?

-Hey Ricardo ! What's up man !!!!  I'm doing OK and am busy as always:
answering shitloads of mail and working on the Centurian website and so on.
It's a dirty job but somebody has got to do it ha ha, no I like it a lot.
Centurian is also doing great after a little lesser period. We have to
record a new CD with two new members and must play shows again within three
months so we're damned busy preparing all that. Besides all the band related
work, me and my wife expect a kid this week, so you understand it's quite
hectic right now.

2) You have now recruited two new members for the band, the replacements
for both Seth and Patrick, how come these guys contacted you?  Have they
played on any other bands before?

-When Rob and I gently threw Seth and Patrick out of Centurian, Jerry was
the first guy we were thinking off to replace Seth and Patrick. Jerry used
to play and sing in Zi Xul, a very good but not too well known band from the
Amsterdam area. We had not heard much from Zi Xul in last few months, so I
called him to ask how he was doing. He didn't hear about the changes in
Centurian but when he heard about it he immediatly became very interested
and joined us a couple of days later.  There was another member of Zi Xul
inwhich Centurian was very intersted: guitarplayer Oskar. After Jerry
joined Centurian we askes Oskar to join too because he and Jerry together
are a very good team. He also was very interested and joined also.

3) Is Jerry's voice similar somehow or even more brutal than Seth's?  How
much will the Centrurian vocals change with these new frontman?

-Ofcourse vocals will change a bit, every singer has his own voice. Jerry's
voice is much more darker then Seth'. I see Seth' voice in direction Glenn
Benton while Jerry's voice is more comparable with Ross Dolan on latest
Immolation CD. The best point of Jerry however, is being a real frontman. He
not only sings great and plays the bass damned good; he's one who can cheer
up an entire crowd, and he's very experienced with this. Seth was a great
singer, but he wasn't experienced and didn't have much contact with an
audience.

4) You seem to be pretty happy with the contract you have with Listeanable
Records, for how many releases did you sign this contract?

-Our deal with Listenable Records is a big step forwards for Centurian.
Listenable Records is well known in Europe; they have good bands under
contract and are very well known for their quality of releases. Do also do
very good promotion for their bands, not only in Europe but everywhere. We
know they
can help us a lot by reaching our goals. We signed a deal for three CDs. The
first CD for them will be recorded in April/May and will be released around
September 2001.

5) Has any other label offered you to sign a contract?

-Their are lots of labels that are interested in Centurian, mostly small
labels but we also heard about some bigger labels that are after us (we
heard about this after we signed the Listenable contract ha ha ha). This
doesn't mean we quit Listenable Records right away.....we're very satisfied
with our position at this point. We make the contract with Listenable worthy
for both of us. It seems however, that Listenable is seeking a US based
label to release the CD in the US and promote it overthere. This won't be a
problem 'cause Centurian is doing very well in the US, much better then here
in Europe. So, if there's anyone from an US based label who is reading this
and
who is interested in releasing the next Centurian CD in the US: contact
Listenable Records at: www.Listenable.net

6) Don't you think that the Dutch scene was needing a band like Centurian?
What bands do you think have influenced your music and what made you follow
this style?

-Ofcourse the scene needed a band like Centurian ha ha. No serious, Holland
needed a band like Centurian very much. We play Death Metal on a whole other
level as most bands here do, we compare intense speed and brutal power in
the old fashioned way and people need that here. That's why Centurian is
doing so damned well I guess, not only here in Holland, but around the
world. I think it's a bit abvious that Morbid Angel and Deicide influenced
us a lot because of their musical skills, but also Krisiun is a very big
influence for us. They play with the most intense power that Death Metal
needs, absolutely great !!!!

7) You have some shows already planned so I guess you and Rob are very
confident that this will be a steady and maybe the definite Centurian line
up from here on?

-Yes we were very condident about this. We know Jerry and Oskar for quite
some time and we know what kind of people they are. When they said: "Yes,
count us in" Rob and I knew that Centurian was back on the right track. We
hope but are also very confident that this will be our definite line-up.
Ofcourse we have to do some hard labor before we can play those first gigs,
but I'm 100% sure we mange to do it. The fact still is that Centurian plays
very musical, intense and extremely fast Death Metal and that it will take a
lot of sweat to learn the all the material within a couple of month.

8) Centurian's lyrics usually deal with Satanism and the destruction of
Christianity just like other Satanic Death Metal bands like Deicide do...
I've wondered for years why not taking it against Islam or Buddhism,
Hinduism and all other religions... Why does it always has to be
Christianity? Don't you hate them all anyway?

-We're mostly referering to the bastards christians 'cause they are the
biggest problem
right here were we live. In Holland fuckin' christianity is still telling
the whole society
how to live, what to do etc. etc. Especially in governments, in both cities
and country, filthy christians are making the rules for others, even if
you're not a stinking christian. The Islam, Buddhism and Hinduism aren't so
big here in holland so it causes us less problems then those cockroaches
christians do. But ofcourse we must fight them too 'cause every year they
settle themselves more and more into the Dutch society and they will also
try to force everybody to live to their standards. However, weak christians
are here right in front of us at this time and therefor the best target at
this point.

9) Can you give us some names of other worth checking out bands from the
Dutch underground?

-One of the best new bands is Virulent. They also play fast and brutal Death
Metal in the Morbid Angel style and do this with great musical skills.
Warlust is also great, they play Black Metal and there a lots of promising
other new bands. But to be honest........I don't give a fuck. Ofcourse it's
great to hear a new good dutch band from time to time but I'm interested in
my onw band and all my time goes to my own band. I also think that a new
band has to prove themselves on stage. Sometimes you hear a tape from a new
band with great and brutal sound which is very promising. Then you see them
on stage and ..............I wet my pants laughing. The stage......that's
were new bands are born, under pressure of an audience ready to kill !!!!!!!

10) I've been to your new website and it looks damn evil!! You now have
some mp3's from your releases there and as far as I understand you might
also add some video files from your live performance at the Milwaukee Metal
Fest '99.... Is this video available from the band upon request too?  Tell
us more about your web too...

-The website is just a try from me. The former webmaster only up-dated it
once a year, while I wanted to make a page with all latest information. So,
I had to do it myself. I'm a complete computer nerd, but I think for the
first time I did this I did it quite well. At this time I am preparing a
complete new website, which must be ready this summer. It will be very
proffesionel and must have loads of information, music, sick jokes etc. etc.
At the curent site ( www.CenturianChaos.com ) I've put some artwork from
Rob, merchandise, latest news, some pictures, lyrics, MP3's, Concert dates
and other stuff, but it needs much more. When I visit a website from another
band I want to see things that make me come back everyday. So,I try to get a
piece of a video on it from our show at the Milwaukee Metal Fest and maybe
everyweek another part of it. Also pictures and sound must change every week
and all info must be up-dated weekly. In this case people come to the site
everyday and people get more and more interested in your band and will buy
your stuff etc. etc. It just a marketing strategie. About the Milwaukee
video: No. it's not for sale, but maybe later this year at our site you can
see bits of it. We hope to make a video later this year with new songs or a
new gig somewhere, which will be for sale. Check our site for details about
this.

11) Did you ever thought you were going to be a part of a band that could
travel to another continent to play Satanic Death Metal?

-If you're in a band that's able to play their music in another continent is
not something that has to do with luck, you just have to work very hard for
it. Wether it's Satanic Death Metal or something else. Ofcourse it's great
if you have achieved this, and I always hoped about this, but I worked very
hard for this. Centurian is only at the beginning stage. We know that after
our next CD is released we can do much more great things. We hope (work) to
go back to the US ofcourse to play a tour or whatever, but we also hope
(work) to go to other parts of the world. We have for example lots of fans
in South-America and we must go their some day. If you work hard to reach
your goal the chances are much higher to actually achieve it, Satanic Death
Metal or whatever.

12) Have you read any interesting books lately or seen any interesting
movies?

-All my time, next to my work, goes to Centurian. I'm doing interviews, mail
and promotion for over 6 hours a day so there is not much time available for
books and/or movies. If I have some time left I rather be in the local bars
and exercise my right arm there.

13) Resume your plans for this year...

-First we have to learn all the old songs with the new members and for the
first time with two guitarplayers. This is a hell of a job, but great to do.
I think it will take at least three months before we can play the first
gigs, that will be around March/April 2001. Around the same time, April, we
enter the studio to record the next CD. All new songs were ready, but we
must re-writing most of it, this time with two guitar lines (which makes the
songs even more brutal and great then they allready were). Next to the
music, we also have to re-write part of the lyrics 'cause the songs were
writen for Seth and Jerry has his own style, so before we actually can start
recording we are extremely busy. Next to everything concerning the new CD we
plan to do lots of gigs. I've allready arranged try-out gigs in April and
May and I'm also working on some tours in Europe later on. We've also been
asked to go back to the US, 'cause Centurian is still doing best in the US,
and I hope after the release in September we also have some more shows
overthere.

14) Let our readers know how they can still get a hold of Centurian's
merchandise to date.

-At the moment we have 4 T-shirts with different designs, all have front and
back prints. Two of them are Black/White shirts "Of Purest Fire" ($ 15) and
"Hell At Last" ($15), and two are full colored "Choronzonic" ($18) and "333"
($18). Next to the shirt we have the mini-CD "Of Purest Fire" ($10) and
ofcourse our latest CD "Choronzonic Chaos Gods" ($ 15). There are more CDs
with Centurian stuff available, like the Morbid Angel tribute CD by Dwell
Records and the "Satanic Rites", a tribute to Hell by Full Moon Productions
and some more compilation CDs but not at my address. All prices include P&P
and the stuff is available at my addres. Check www.CenturianChaos.com for
more details. Within half a year the new CD must be available; at my
address; at Listenable Records and at every distributer around the world.

15) Alright Wim, I wish you and all of Centurian the best in this new
chapter of your life and let it all stay evil!!!  The last words are
yours!!

-Thanks Lebzul, we need all the promotion we can get, and this is a great
opportunity to promote Centurian in your area. Also best wishes; this year
will be a great one for Centurian, we take a big step towards domination by
Chaos !!! The new CD will be released worldwide around September and you may
expect a lot from it. Till that time you have to please yourself with our
site at www.CenturianChaos.com onwhich all latest stuff about Centurian is
mentioned. People that wanted to contact me, here's the address. (amswer may
take some time, 'cause we're damned busy)

Centurian
Wim van der Valk
Wallenbergstraat 27
3882 HA Putten
The Netherlands / Holland

Tel/fax: (0031) - (0) 341 - 358002

E-mail: Centurian@chello.nl
E-mail: Choronzonic@hotmail.com
ICQ: 83653861

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