Vader

Litany (Metal Blade)
by Tim Den

One of the genre’s best are finally getting the recognition they deserve. Vader, the mighty death metal machine from Poland, has not only persevered through their 14 years together (and many record label and guitarist changes), their string of impressive work over the past few years has garnered them a deal with Metal Blade and a buzz among metal and hardcore kids alike. The reason is simple: Vader is molten lava, boiling over with intensity, passion, and brutality. Devoid of many elements that’ve made death metal a mockery over the course of its history, Vader play their meaty grind with no gore lyrics, third-rate computer artwork, or saturated growls. On Litany, Vader delivers haunting, dream-like verbal imagery with machine-gun-times-ten speed making for an overwhelming experience that’s both frightening and awe-inspiring. The proficiency of their playing, as any Vader fan will tell you, is second to none. Even masters like Morbid Angel and Cannibal Corpse can’t match the way Vader blazes through over ten changes and variations in one song, often in under three minutes, and without a single flaw. The only other band I can think of capable of such recklessness would be Angel Corpse, but they sound like a cut-and-paste riff band compared to Vader’s streamlined fluidity and continuity of content. There’s no other band in the death metal world today so efficient in both delivering brutal, sick riffing, and conjuring up a feeling of utter transcendence. Vader have made death metal art.
(2828 Cochran St. PMB 302 Simi Valley, CA 93065)