Vader - XXV

Published August 21 2008

*=Staff's pick

CD 1:
InVaders
Chaos
Vicious Circle
Crucified Ones
Dark Age
Reign Carrion*
Silent Empire
Sothis*
Incarnation
Reborn In Flames
Blood Of Kingu*
Carnal*
Fractal Light
Red Passage
Black To The Blind

CD 2:
Kingdom
Wings
Xeper
Cold Demons
The Final Massacre*
Reign Forever World
Epitaph
Dark Transmission
Fear Of Napalm
Wyrocznia
Tyrani Piekel*

Genre	Death Metal	Peter	Vocals
Tracks	26	Peter	Guitar
Runningtime	95 Min.	Mauser	Guitar
Label	Regain Records	Novy	Bass
Release	28 May 2008	Daray	Drums
Country	Poland	-	Keyboard
Similar artists	Behemoth, Morbid Angel

To celebrate their mindblowing 25 years in the business of death metal and still belonging to, if not spearheading, the elite of the genre, Vader decided to release a double album with re-recordings of songs spanning over almost their entire career, from the early demos (1990) to the album The Beast (2004). I personally love the sound the have developed the past years so if you have anticipated to hear the old classics in a modern shape, you are in for a treat and I have a hard time believing that you will be disappointed.

The first disc contains songs from their second demo Morbid Reich, also on the album debut The Ultimate Incantation (1993). They are mixed with songs from De Profundis and Black To The Blind. One might be of the opinion that you should not touch songs like these, considering the original having a certain mood, atmosphere and nostalgic value, but I think the songs do so much better in their new and improved production.

How to pick and point at highlights on this album? The material is, even though spanning over so many years, so solid and consistent and this is one of the most masterpiece filled albums I have heard (and still they have left out songs good enough to fill another album just as good). Intense and brutal yet with a magnificent flow. Varied enough to not contain one dead second yet without being the least annoyingly progressive or difficult. And it's worth mentioning again: Peter is still the best growler in the scene and his voice of today really lifts the old songs to new heights here.

On the second disc we find songs from the albums Kingdom, Litany, Revelations and the mentioned The Beast. They have also thrown in a couple of covers at the end, being Fear Of Napalm by Terrorizer and Wyrocznia by their countrymen KAT. Everything is rounded off close to perfection with the extremely catchy and early written demo song Tyrani Piekel. One of the best songs on the album.

The songs generally don't differ much from their original versions. There are occasionally slight differences in tempo, added keyboards, tiny changes in style of playing. I think close to all changes are to the better but some may, or rather will, of course be of the opposite opinion.

The grade can not possibly be lower than this in my book. An amazing and timeless collection of the finest in death metal clad in the production they deserve.

See also review of: And Blood Was Shed In Warsaw , Impressions In Blood , The Beast , Blood

Performance	Originality	Production	Vocals	Songwriting
9,5	8	8	10	10

Summary
9,5 chalices of 10 - Tommy