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Vader: Reign forever world & Blood EP's
08/05/07 || Daemonomania
All bow before the power of Vader. They have about 15 billion songs, and the thoughtful folks at Metal Blade decided to put two EPs together for us on one disc so that we can enjoy about 4,000 of these songs at a nice price. Ok, there aren’t 4,000 songs on here, but its close. If you went to China and started giving each person there a Vader track, everyone would walk away happy. Of course they won’t be happy if they don’t like brutal Polish death metal, but that’s their loss.
Let me get things like production and songwriting out of the way – it’s pretty useless to discuss these things when it comes to Vader. Vader, after the early days, have been getting pretty much the same production they always get. Their new stuff certainly sounds amped-up, but their mid-period stuff all has the same, competent, dry but fulfilling sound. The drums drown things out from time to time. But you don’t mind. “Doc” (RIP) fucking tore those shits to pieces. You want to hear that. And songwriting? Well, a Vader song is a Vader song – and Vader songs are good. All 15 billion of them.
This two-fer starts out with the simply titled “Blood”. “Blood” is a bit more varied than Vader’s typical “blast till they die” approach. Their newest disc, “Impressions In Blood”, (they’re really working hard on those album titles, it must be like an AC/DC lyric writing session in Vaderland) is a step away from this, and the roots for this step can be seen in tracks like “We Wait.” Now I’ve heard some people say that this song sucks, but those people are wrong. And they’re assholes. “We Wait” is methodical, slow, and punishing, and demonstrates one of the few times where Doc lays off the meth and gives his kit a break. The rest of the songs are pretty much fast as hell though, with “Son of Fire” being a highlight. There’s one more monster on this EP right at the end – “When Darkness Calls”. This song rules, despite some dodgy lyrics like…
“Place, where absence of life
Does not mean morality”
Hmm, maybe they meant “mortality”? Maybe not? I like Vader’s lyrics – they’re often much more literate than their peers, so I won’t complain. And wait! I see from my research that they cut off the Thin Lizzy cover when they combined “Blood” and “Reign Forever World”. Fuckers!
Anyway, on to “Reign Forever World.” Is this review getting too long? Deal with it. I just noticed something. Vader’s guitar tone often sounds like an angry hive of bees. Onward. The title track of this disc is a beast. You will shit your pants, the shit will drop down your pant legs, and pieces of shit will be left behind you on the sidewalk the first time you hear this song. This same process happened to me when I first heard “RFW”. It was disgusting. This is my vote for best Vader track of all time, though it has several million contenders to deal with. Your head will bang like it was adorned with the symbol of Jupiter, or whateverthefuck they were talking about with the lyrics. So mysterious thou art, Vader. The rest of the stuff is covers (the Judas Priest one is funny) and blasting. Not great, but good.
So overall, Vader does their usual job of putting the Polish boot so far up your ass that you’re tying their metal shoelaces with your tongue. Minus a few for a little repetition and the removal of the Thin Lizzy cover, plus a few for the evil laugh in “Reign Forever World” after he talks about the end of the Nazarene, and you get an:
8 out of 10.
- Information
- Released: 2001/2003
- Label: Metal Blade
- Website: www.vader.pl
- Band
- Peter: vocals, guitar
- Mauser: guitar
- Doc: drums
- Shambo: bass
- Tracklist
- 01. Shape-Shifting
- 02. We Wait
- 03. Us The Fallen Rise
- 04. Son Of Fire
- 05. Traveler
- 06. When Darkness Calls
- 07. Reign Forever World
- 08. Frozen Paths
- 09. Privilege Of The Gods
- 10. Total Desaster
- 11. Rapid Fire
- 12. Freezing Moon
- 13. Creatures Of Light And Darkness – (live)
- 14. Canal – (live)
- 15. Red Dunes
- 16. Lord Of Desert
