The Empire

Still leading the genre to the fullest, Polish death/thrash legends Vader has been leading their genre’s charge for the better part of their near forty-year existence by churning out some of the most consistent and explosively enjoyable work around. Never one to take a rest following a slew of releases, compilations and even an EP earlier in the year, the groups’ tenth true full-length of original music was released November 4, 2016 on Nuclear Blast.

From the onset of their career the band has delved between two distinct styles in their music, and for the most part what’s featured here is the less-prominent aspect of their sound. The vast majority of the tracks here are all about the tight, churning thrash style rhythms of their sound, flying through furious non-stop riff-work and utterly pummeling energy that goes for the intensity and anger side of their sound rather than opt for the sprawling mid-tempo gallops. Rather, the music here is tight, short and to-the-point in it’s charging intensity, relying on the groups’ penchant for twisting through varying rhythms for its variety here that gives this a mostly thrash-based assault than most other offerings in their history. As this ends up being the dominant factor for the music here, it leaves a profound display of aggression and energy here by going through these dynamic paces and really drowns out the epic aspects of their sound here. These efforts are placed more on the sidelines of the album in favor of the tight, vicious thrashing on display which is where this one really suffers slightly with the slower, sprawling efforts taken out for these shorter bursts of thrash that it makes the album feel much too brief as the running time is noticeable with the short, blistering intensity featured here being just too obvious with the vast majority of the album being under three minutes so when it goes beyond it’s all the more obvious. Still, that alone is all that’s wrong here which isn’t really all that detrimental at all.

With the only real problem here being quite a laughable flaw that’s really the epitome of grasping at straws, that factor should be expected from a band this consistent and enjoyable as this vicious, furious slab of thrashing-tinged death metal will go down a storm with fans of their past work, death/thrash in general or those curious about the bands’ longevity and need a fine entry point into their catalog.

Prolific death metal bands surpassing the ten album mark are rare these days. Vader holds no exception to the fold as frontman Piotr Wiwczarek earned the credibility to let the albums speak for themselves. He has been the dynamic engine behind Vader, a band consistently reinventing death metal mastery for over 30 years. They’re just so fucking good at what they do, it’s not even debatable. True to their form, the Polish quartet have created another solid, impeccable studio album, their 11th fittingly named ‘The Empire.’

Clocking in at 33:07 (ten minutes shorter than ‘Tibi Et Igni’), ‘The Empire’ delivers ten viciously fast, straightforward songs filled with sudden stops, anthem-like riffs, and fast tremolo leads that are the center of this masterpiece. ‘Angels of Steel’ is a short, punchy two minute opener followed by ‘Tempest’ in which both are reminiscent to the ‘De Profundis’ era where a similar transition exists between ‘The Silent Empire’ and ‘An Act of Darkness.’ Quite impressive as bands attempting this feat end up ripping themselves off most of the time.

Part two of the album begins with ‘Genocidius’ that combines variances of thrash/blast beats, a wicked intro-scream, and a heavily Celtic Frost 'Morbid Tales' influenced riff at 1:31 to definitely cause neck injury from massive headbanging. Simply out-fucking-standing! There is no shortage of intriguing curiosity. And, perhaps Vader’s most war-theme composition, ‘The Army-Geddon’ can easily be perceived as a dark, unused Decapitated song from 'Organic Hallucinosis' as the double bass beat at the beginning is all you need to recollect Vitek’s drumming. At just over four minutes, it’s the second longest and most epic song on the album.

To no surprise, keyboard effects are non-existent given the majority of songs are shorter in length and incorporate less technicalities than ‘Tibi Et Igni.’ While this does raise a flag, it bears little if any significance as the songs sound more natural and less cluttered. Also, the standard 'intro/outro' songs have been eliminated altogether much to the benefit of keeping the album short and sweet.Nothing seems to stop Vader from their formulaic methods of madness as 'The Empire' is the second consecutive album to have the same lineup which has not happened since 'Black to the Blind' and 'Litany.' A must for Vader fanatics.