ALBUM REVIEW: Vader – Solitude In Madness

Polish Death Metal overloads VADER are back with a new album of Death Metal destruction. Out now via Nuclear Blast Records.

Ferocious guitars and drums hammer us in with no introduction. Savage vocals quickly ensue as the thrashing Death Metal excellence pummels through crushing layers of brutality with magnificent lead guitar work adding melody to the rhythmic battery. Once more Vader have clearly not compromised a thing, offering the barbarity of their previous works and never faltering. Churning forth a putrid blend of wonderfully tight Death Metal with thrashing aggression, this is no exception in the bands almost flawless discography of pure decimation. Punishing and unrelenting from the onset, this album is going to be a fierce one.

Convulsing with torturous heaviness, each song delves further into a hellish domain of filthily morbid Death Metal brilliance. The killer songwriting is met with a gorgeously clear production that allows every single blast beat, tremolo riff and grunt to have the full impact it is capable of. Soaring through each piece, there is an energetic disdain on the new record that builds with each piece, growing feverishly into a visceral beast of Death Metal that once unleashed cannot be tamed. Tracks like “Into Oblivion” do exactly what it says on the tin, dropping us right into a chaotic assault that is as inescapable as the captivating grooves on the record.

This is Vader’s 16th album, with regular EPs and shorter releases springing up through their career. Some may expect a band to run out of ideas or become dull, but Vader deliver the same passionate conjurations of pure Death Metal violence that they have from their inception. No compromise, no progression, this is the exact same Vader that many of us have loved for years. Clearly what they do works, they have no need or intention to change a thing and that in itself is respectable. Even more astonishing is how vicious albums like this seem to come effortlessly to the band who are evidently incapable of losing touch.

Another slab of total Death Metal mastery under the belts of these Polish legends. A monolith of fierce thrashing chaos that will certainly quench the thirst of old school maniacs who desire more obliteration from an era so long ago, though with a flame still burning strong thanks to the likes of Vader. -8/10