Interview with Wim and Rob.
By Eosforos for FMP.
Edited for the web by Thorns/FMP.


The following is an interview conducted with Wim and Rob from the great band that rose from the Ashes of Inquisitor, namely Centurian. Brutal Death metal played the way it was meant to be played, brutal and blasphemic. One mcd out on FMP and a full length due this year, a band soon to be a major force.

Infernal greetings, can you give us the history of Centurian?
{W}Hello Lance and readers of Ultima Comparatio and Full moon supporters! How are you doing? Centurian is doing great at the moment, here is a short history. Centurian started in Jan.’97 as the continuation of the Death/thrash band Inquisitor in which I played for about seven years. After I kicked out the singer because he was fucking his life {and the band} up with his drug- abuse, and then the guitarist left to join Ancient Rites, Inquisitor was as good as dead. At that time Rob contacted me because he was very interested in playing with me, [in a band I mean, haha] and we decided to go on with Inquisitor. Within a short time we noticed the new material was much more brutal death metal and different than the older Inquisitor material so we changed the name to Centurian and started all over again.Soon after we found vocalist Seth and as a three piece we recorded eight months later the “Of Purest Fire” demo. This demo got great responses from all over the underground metal scene and led to some nice gigs and to a contract with Full moon productions from the U.S.A.. In 1998, we finally found a bass player by the name of Patrick, and Centurian was complete. Til now, our label has only released one MCD from Centurian, the “Of Purest Fire” mcd,which also got great reviews. Within 3 months, {April/May}FMP will release our first full length called “CHORONZONIC CHAOS GODS”.

Your “Of purest Fire” mcd has been out for some time on FMP, from what I have seen in magazines etc, it seemed to get a great response throughout the underground. Are you satisfied with the mcd?
{W}We recorded “Of Purest Fire” to be our first demo, but after we released it and we signed the deal with FMP, we thought the recording was good enough to present as a mcd. If we did not do that, it would have taken too long before we could release our first CD, and by means of this mcd, we warned the people of our coming CD. At this time we’re still very happy with both the demo and the mcd, which by the was have the same quality and songs. It brought us a lot of good reviews and gigs, and the perfect label.

It seems that FMP put a lot into promoting that, I had seen many ad’s, and a lot of magazine editors that I am in contact with all got promotional copies, how are your feelings with FMP?
{W}We are very pleased with Jon, Jonathan and Full Moon Productions. They indeed did, and still do, lots of promotion for the band while we only had a mcd released on their label. Because of this our name has already become very well known within the scene. They promised us the promotion for our upcoming CD will be even better. Next to all the promotion they also try to get Centurian to the U.S. to do some shows or even a tour, so you’ll understand we are very happy with them.... And we will not disappoint them, mark my words!!!!

The mcd was basically a first for that label being more Death metal oriented. A lot of Morbid Angel comparisons were running rampant. Personally, I find more in common with Deicide. Your comments?
{W}Yes, I know that they had only released Black Metal bands before, but I was’t surprised that a so-called Black Metal label showed interest in Centurian because lots of Black Metal fans like our music too. I think it’s because of the fact that most Black Metal bands are losiing power and are getting less brutal and fast while we have remained fast and brutal, as all metal should be. About the Morbid Angel/Deicide comparisons, we are influenced a lot by both of the bands because they are damned good and brutal. Personally I think musically we lean more towards Morbid Angel, while Deicide has influenced our lyrics a lot, but in spite of this, we have created our own sound.

Bands that play pure death metal are a rare commodity these days, many have tried to incorporate other gimmicks within their music, or hop on the Black metal trend. You have surely set yourself apart from such rubbish with a straight for the heart approach, your comments on the bands resorting to gimmicks? And finally your analysis of your own approach to your music?
{W}Thanks for the nice words. We indeed set ourselves apart from all the bands that are only trying to remove the power from their music. We do this just by putting more and more power into it. But this is not the main reason for us making this music. We play this music because we like it very much. I absolutely HATE weak elements in music that’s supposed to be extreme, brutal and heavy. Keyboards, violins, female vocals, gay farts etc.. Does not belong in this kind of music. There are maybe a few exceptions from bands that are using other elements next to guitar, bass, vocals and drums that are still interesting.

Lyrically you also manage to separate yourself from the garbage that is present throughout. Death metal should either be about the cultivation of death or purely blasphemic. You seem to incorporate BOTH into your lyrical approach. Your comments? Finally will this be the same approach in the future?
{R}As a Satanist, I hate life and I hate God. So when I write lyrics, they will automatically contain themes on death and destruction, chaos, the assassination of God and his lambs, glorification of Satan, and so on. It’s natural for me because the only thing I am interested in is Satanism. The same approach will be used in the future. One thing that I found to be odd about the mcd is including 2 cover songs. It is uncommon for a band to include one on a full length, yet you included 2 on a mcd.. What was the reason for this?
{W}The Inquisitor cover “Damnation for the Holy” must be seen as sort of a crossover from Inquisitor to Centurian. This track did fit our music very well in the beginning of Centurian, but we don’t play it anymore because we think new Centurian material is much better. We recorded “Blasphemy” from Morbid Angel because it’s one of their songs that we like to play very much not only during rehearsals, but also live. It’s kind of an ode from us to the best Death metal band in the world. We added these tracks to the demo because we had some time left in the studio and wanted to use this time in the right way, more Centurian Music for the listeners.. Enjoy.

As we discussed a bit already, your lyrical approach is quite blasphemic. How serious are you about the ideologies you present within your lyrics?
{R}I am very serious about my lyrics, It’s about what I feel and what I have seen. The lyrics are a result of what I make though in everyday life. To me the lyrics are as important as the music.

Do you use the blasphemy as a mockery of the Christian religion? Or do you actually worship the deity of Satan?
{R}I worship Satan, the true God. First of all, the blasphemy is used as a mockery on God;I deny his power and glory because I don’t want to have anything to do with him. I’m into Holocaust and terror. My soul belongs to Satan and God is standing in my way. But of course, the blasphemy is also nice to kick in the ass of those cockroach Christians and their pathetic religion.

To take it a bit further, if you did worship the deity of Satan, you are also accepting the professed validity of the bible, thus making yourself a follower of the Christian teachings. Your comments?
{R}Satan is Chaos. Chaos existed before the bible was written, before God began to interfere with this planet. Chaos has always been. Thus, a Satanist doesn’t need to be a follower of the Christian teachings. I like the symbolism of the bible though, the rebellious Angel cast out from Heaven. It’s something I pretty much can relate to.

Anton Lavey, obviously someone you must be slightly familiar with. What was your opinion of him? Do you think the Church of Satan was actually of worth?
{R}Anton LeGay was a faggot, I am glad he is dead. He’s one of the biggest insults to satanism. The man really didn’t have a clue with what he was dealing with.Using Satanic symbols in his “rituals” and “Ceremonies”, chanting “hail Satan”. The fucker did not even believe in Satan {Nor do I-LG}. A Satanist worships Satan, Anton worshipped himself. Everybody thinks he’s so damn smart and intellectual, but all he did was play with words {Evil-live and shit like that} and making funny remarks about Christianity. Don’t get me wrong, he was against Christianity and that’s good. But what he was doing wasn’t Satanism, more humanism. No ‘black pope’ can teach a person how to live like a Satanist. Once can not learn Satanism from a book, it comes from a person’s heart and soul. Anton’s followers are most often ignorant and seeking for sensation, the want to be part of some “shocking’ circle. The church of Satan is nothing more than a Kindergarden.

I have a hard time taking it seriously, the “church of love and light” or whatever their slogan was, the alternative to Christianity, that you too can be a member of for a mere $150.00, this will include your card blah blah blah.. It really was just another form of organized religion in my opinion. Members got to be a member and listen to ONE person’s philosophies, which really were no different from that of the average man. Your comments?
{R}All I can say, is I don’t understand an Organization that allows each and every moron to become a member. I guess that if you’ve got money, anyone is welcome. If I were running a cult or something like that, I would rather take in one person with 20 years of Satanic experience, than 20,000 fools who think it’s cool to call themselves a Satanist.

I actually am far more impressed with the likes of Jim Jones and David Koresh, these were leaders of their religions {Cults, they all are aren’t they?} that actually convinced all the members to end their lives for them. Truly a great achievement, because in essence, we were rid of some more useless sheep. Your comments?
{R}It’s a wonderful thing when someone can stimulate others to kill themselves or kill each other. Jones and Koresh were indeed clever individuals, but it doesnt take a clever person to convince a Christian, because Christians are stupid.

Back to the state of the black/death metal scene for a bit.. What do you feel has happened? At one time, it was truly music for the ill-minded individuals that had extreme ideology. Now many people that are involved seem to have their own idea’s about it, and feel that very little emphasis should be put on ideals. Your comments?
{W}Death and Black Metal was for extreme people with their own thoughts and own ideals which supported their music. A few years ago, subjects in lyrics changed; short haired people interferred;sound qualities became too good; and even straight edge bands were playing our music. The music has become too normal and that is not right for this style of music. Our music must only be for the sick and extreme minds, not for the others. But I think it is changing again and this time in the right direction. Real extreme bands with the right kind of people, for example Krisiun and Marduk are doing great, while all the fakes are burning out.

Take for example, a band like Dimmu Borgir, who tries desperately to “look” satanic, this is a band that is plastered over every major magazine cover these days. This once proud Satanic band is resorting to ripping off Cradle of Filth’s heterosexually challenged image. To me a gay band copying another bands gay image, just makes them absolute flaming homo’s, this is the state of the scene though. No one cares, everyone thinks it is strictly about music. Black and death metal should be MUCH more, your comments?
{W}-It is not strictly about the music. Lyrics and ideology are as important for us as the music, and they MUST support each other. But in the last few years it has become more important for a band to look right and have the right image. Images of bands are mostly talking about as opposed to their music, this stinks. There are bands that look so horrified and evil on their CD’s and posters etc. But when you see them live on stage they such and sound like a bunch of assfucking-homosexual-gay-faggots. Not only all those fake Black metal bands with all their weak elements and clown looks, but also a lot of Death metal bands too. With Centurian we don’t put much time into creating images or extreme pictures or whatever, we want to express ourselves through our music and lyrics, and on stage people can see how we really are.

Are there any bands left that you have some respect for? Who?
{W}There will always be bands that play metal in the way it is supposed to be, in spite of all the crap that’s going on. Krisiun for example is a band we all like very much and vise-versa. We hear they did a show in Florida last January while all wearing Centurian t-shirts. Their CD “Apocalyptic Revelation” is fucking great, damned fast and brutal as all metal should be. Marduk from Sweden is also great, just like Angelcorpse, Nile, Deicide, Vader, Severe Torture. But Morbid Angel is still the master within Death metal, and always will be.

I understand you play live, what is a typical show like? Any vampire’s? Naked Women? Fake Blood? Homosexuality? haha, obviously the end part of this was sarcastic.
{W}We play live only songs that aren’t too fast so the nice people can sing along with our beautiful lyrics in choir with our neat vocalist. We choose only the songs with a sure meaning and a nice feeling because we don’t like to be cruel on stage so people don’t sleep at a Centurian show.Also our rhythms are chosen very carefully so we can do nice steps during the songs and our make-up doesn’t wipe off. After the shows we shake hands with our audience and shove some nice, warm, hard sticks in each others slimy holes.... It’s about time you see some Centurian gigs, Lance!!

You also have a full length coming out on FMP soon. What can you tell us about that?
{W}We just finished recording our full length CD and hope Full Moon will release it around April/May 99. The CD has nine tracks of pure blasphemic, fast, cruel Death metal as on the “Of Purest Fire” mcd with one big difference:This time the songs are fast. Some titles are :Damned and Dead, Luciferian Onslaught, Hail Caligula!!,In the name of chaos, The law of burning. We recorded at the same studio as the last time, be had a good budget this time, so the sound is much better {we hope, the recordings aren’t mixed yet}.

The end has arrived, thanks for your time. Please end the interview however you feel appropriate.
{W}Thanks very much for this interview Lance, I hope all your questions around Centurian are answered now. If not, you know how to find me. About our shows once again, we play the opposite of what I mentioned before, {Except the shoving part haha} I sincerely hope Fullmoon will succeed in getting Centurian to the U.S.A. This year so we can show this to you and meet all of our friends over there. Til that time, you must help yourself to “Of purest Fire” and with our upcoming CD “CHORONZONIC CHAOS GODS”. If that doesn’t fulfill your needs..We have very nice t-shirts {Of purest fire mcd design and “Hell at last” circular demon design} both black, 2 sides for $15.00-P&P included. For latest news check the FMP website http://www.fmp666.com or write/call/fax us..

HAIL CALIGULA, HAIL CENTURIAN CENTURIAN Wim Van der Valk Wallenbergstraat 27 3882 HA PUTTEN HOLLAND tel/fax 0031-341-358002