EP REVIEW: Vader – Thy Messenger

Here I review the brand new EP from Polish Death Metal legends VADER! Out today via Nuclear Blast Records!

1. Grand Deceiver fires us in with grooving old school tremolo picked guitar riffs, quickly joined by violent vocals and walls of drum assaults. The fast-paced and blistering Death-Thrash mania of the band is back without any weakness, delivering an opening track of totally extreme warfare, riff fuelled, shredding, blasting madness that has all the classic Vader vibes intact. With melody utilised briefly in the blistering solo work, the song has an impressively unrelenting grind to it that kicks the album off beautifully. Excellent.
2. Litany falls into play with more thrashing guitars, pummelling drums and a violently upbeat kick to the instrumentals that drives out total ferocity. With so much speed and fierce instrumentals to back up the insanity-inducing screams and a tight production tying things together, this song has plenty of bite to it as one would expect from Vader, continuing in the barrages of the first piece nicely. There is a really nice 80s feel to the whammy guitar solo that was incredibly fun. Brilliant.
3. Emptiness sets off with some fantastic guitar solos over menacing grooves and double kick attacks, played with an unrivalled precision that builds nicely into tense thrashy grooves, packing a hard punch. Swaying with attitude and moving along at a nice pace, this track is an upbeat piece that is perfect for the headbangers who enjoy punky riffs that descend into cavernously monolithic grotesquery, meandering back and forth. Fantastic.
4. Despair picks up the pace for one gruellingly brutal assault of high-octane ferocity that once more follows in the footsteps of the earlier tracks. The short track offers tons of brilliant instrumental work and fierce vocal torment that certainly batters your skull in with pure Vader madness, just as we all wished for. A fun closer in terms of original pieces with plenty of aggression. Great stuff.
5. Steeler (Judas Priest cover) comes in with anthemic guitars and hammering drums, soon joined by the vocalist howling along. The first thing I notice is not just that the band play the song perfectly well but more importantly they do it in their own style, giving a Vader twist to some legendary Judas Priest work. When a band pays tribute to their influences in a unique way, I have to give them respect and Vader certainly have done this very well. An awesome cover, choice of song and way to revitalise it. Glorious.

New Vader can only be a good thing. If you enjoy Vader, you will enjoy their new EP which delivers 4 new songs and a cover that falls perfectly in with their Thrashing Death Metal catalogue. While the band isn’t one to “progress”, they have delivered some more solid Extreme Metal and I do not think anybody can complain about that. -7.5/10