The Beast

The Beast is a bad Vader album. It came during a period when the band wasn’t really doing anything new or refining themselves to the point of sheer amazement. The band would have these down periods every time a kickass album was released: after De Profundis, after Litany, after Impressions In Blood, and (as of writing this) maybe even after Welcome To The Morbid Reich (edit: Sept. 2014, "fuck no, Tibi Et Igni is amazing!"). There’s still always something for me to enjoy, as is the case with this album, but I recognize when the whole thing ends up being a flawed body of work. It’ll come down to individual tastes on this one, so if you like the general formula of thrashy riffs, onslaughts of blasts, and pulverizing heaviness without going into brutal or technical territories then this album’s going to be at least listenable.

A complaint that sticks to this album like glue is that it’s bland. I wouldn’t disagree, but to what extent is this true? The album already opens cryptically with low leads before ripping right into a fiery first song, “Out Of The Deep”. This one’s Vader with all the traits: dicey tremolo and dirty riffs, an even more autonomous bass (you can hear it quite easily is what I’m saying), blast beats, and Peter’s cogent growls. Add more melody to that as well, which is a plus in my opinion. “Out Of The Deep” is proof enough that this is a heavy album, but after every track things feel tiring. Like Revelations, this album doesn’t have any unique identity to it that makes it standout. It’s hard to describe, but it might also be an effect of the modern production plus the lack of divergence from the band’s formula.

For example, “Dark Transmission” is catchy, mid-paced, and contains a consistent riff. It reminds me of “When The Sun Drowns In Dark” with the thrashy riff and pacing, but what that song does that this one doesn’t is maintain my interest. “Dark Transmission” doesn’t develop into anything besides being a jumpy song. “Firebringer” picks up in seconds right after it to go right back into Vader’s typical formula. I’ll praise the leads and solos here for being more melodic, but what’s occurring is meandering under the same conditions as before. After a minute of “The Zone” my mind ends up feeling like it was just wiped. I swore I’ve heard this song four times before on other Vader albums. The chugs, the blasts, the hoarse growls, the callous tone… and then I hear it again in “Insomnia” with the start-stop momentum of seething riffs. It just felt mundane, and then “Apopheniac” does it again until I forgot that over ten minutes goes by when adding all three songs up.

Give me something to cling to. Give me something that justifies its own existence with compelling writing. For all that I could bash this album for, no Vader album loses that above sense of reasoning. “I Shall Prevail” goes on a ballistic path of harmonious solos flanking addicting thrash riffs. “The Sea Came In At Last” treads with a darker mood and less wildness. Lastly, “Choices” starts out cleanly like a Porcupine Tree song sullenly drifting on its own atmosphere before turning to hellish barbarism. For three dull songs in one block of time there are these other three spread out over the album. Along with “Out Of The Deep,” the success of these great songs keeps The Beast from sinking into total mediocrity. What should have been done was making an EP out of this with those four songs and the intro. It’d be a phenomenal release that way, and pairing it with The Art Of War would give two kickass EPs instead of one.