{"id":106268,"date":"2026-10-30T00:00:19","date_gmt":"2026-10-30T00:00:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/?p=106268"},"modified":"2026-11-13T14:27:35","modified_gmt":"2026-11-13T14:27:35","slug":"album-review-xentrix-allied-with-the-enemy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/album-review-xentrix-allied-with-the-enemy\/","title":{"rendered":"XENTRIX – Allied With The Enemy (2026) | Album \/ EP Reviews @ Metal Forces Magazine"},"content":{"rendered":"

XENTRIX
\nAllied With The Enemy<\/strong><\/span>
\n\"\"
\nListenable (2026)<\/span>
\nRating: 6.5\/10<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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Decades on from their initial thrash success, the ever-reliable U.K. thrashers Xentrix pump out another eagerly awaited full-length album. I\u2019m big enough and ugly enough to admit that the Lancashire clan were never my favourite mob on the scene back in the day, and more recent releases have also left me cold. Unfortunately, Allied With The Enemy<\/em> has a similar effect, even with its crunchy riffs and infectious melodies. Those early records, for example, Shattered Existence (1989), did little for me in spite of the hype and the solid live shows, but with their seventh album I just hear more of the same soulless metal, and it pains me to say it.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s no denying the potency of Andy Sneap\u2019s production as each instrument is given space to breathe, but what\u2019s apparent from the off is the dull familiarity of it all. No, I never expected some prog fused avant garde thrash, just something more inviting. Lead off singles \u2018Allied With The Enemy\u2019 and \u2018Nil By Mouth\u2019 arrive as expected, rather generic slabs, accompanied by the usual promo videos filmed in large, empty buildings. However much those drums gallop and riffs tighten, there\u2019s little that stands out in such a crowded scene. Jay Walsh\u2019s vocal grit doesn\u2019t win me over either; it\u2019s the standard mediocre tough exterior that fronts a horde of similar sounding acts.<\/p>\n

I can already here the Xentrix fans foaming in disagreement, but it\u2019s just an opinion of mine that I\u2019ve applied many times over. Even so, there\u2019s an abundance of clean, polished riffs to enjoy and more so with the mid-tempo barrages. The guys also bring a bombastic ethos, hinting at the epic with the likes of \u2018No Bridges Left To Burn\u2019, and there\u2019s also drips of atmosphere, particularly with \u2018The Dark Eternal\u2019. You\u2019ll also get hammered by the usual blunt thrash assaults, namely opener \u2018Rip Saw\u2019 and \u2018Where The Madness Lies\u2019.<\/p>\n

Expect the usual traditional thrash tirades nodding towards the classic San Francisco Bay Area scene, but for me it\u2019s the slower segments which litter the album that are the most entertaining. Every thrasher on the planet loves a good crisp chug and more so a smattering of tempo changes, as evidenced on \u2018On Burned Remains\u2019.<\/p>\n

The band still inserts a few intriguing twists but with each passing masculine huff and puff I\u2019m left nonplussed by the steel framework. Yes, it\u2019s what Xentrix does best, and there\u2019s no denying the chemistry the guys have as they deliver a myriad of sharp structures, but the contemporary coating gives me shivers; I\u2019m on my ninth spin of the platter and still remain out of touch to its details.<\/p>\n

Allied With The Enemy<\/em> will please the thrash purists and Xentrix fans, but for me it\u2019s just further proof as to why the lads never reached the dizzy heights of the genre.<\/p>\n

Neil Arnold<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

XENTRIX Allied With The Enemy Listenable (2026) Rating: 6.5\/10 Decades on from their initial thrash success, the ever-reliable U.K. thrashers Xentrix pump out another eagerly awaited full-length album. I\u2019m big enough and ugly enough to admit that the Lancashire clan were never my favourite mob on the scene back in the day, and more recent […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,4373],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-106268","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-album-ep-reviews","category-xentrix"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106268","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=106268"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106268\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":106269,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106268\/revisions\/106269"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=106268"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=106268"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=106268"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}