Tony Junior x KEVU – Centaur

86%%Overall Score

• Old school vibe
• Stark drop with Tony Junior old influence
• Nostalgic vocal, do you remember that peculiar chant?

As a guy who grew up listening to that kind of big room, I want to begin by saying thank you to Tony Junior and Kevu, because I was instantly teleported to 2014 for three minutes when I first played “Centaur“. For those who say that this genre is dead and old-fashioned, I think it’s important to distinguish between “old-fashioned” and “old school“. In my honest opinion, the second adjective fits considerably better with this style of music.

Just after the first second of the break, three words came immediately to my mind: “Tsunami“, “Stampede” and “Immortal” (where Tony Junior was featured), so, even before I listened to the whole track, I knew what to expect in every single moment, because I used to have those tunes on repeat lots of years ago. All the elements are genuine and faithful to the roots of the genre: violins generating tension, vocals edited in the same way as in “Tsunami” and, of course, huge supersaws.

After an aggressive vocal and the classical hard snare, the drop arrives like a shot in the chest. A heavily distorted lead starts playing over a smashing big room kick, creating that festival atmosphere that we all miss nowadays. As it was back in those days, the melody is simple, really simple, but extremely catchy, perfect for making any crowd go wild. I hope we can enjoy it live soon.

Even if it could sound weird considering that it’s actually a rehash of “Immortal”, “Centaur” feels like a breath of fresh air and somehow “original”. In a downward scene, I’m really happy to still find references to that golden age of EDM. I hope to find more artists going back to the things they used to do before joining less inspiring trends for me!