Review Summary: A merciless, brutal assault on all of the senses.
I wouldn’t recommend Vader’s fifth full length, Litany, to anyone who is opposed to getting his or her face smashed in by pure ungodly fury for a half an hour without mercy. This may sound as if this is a prerequisite to most death metal albums, but Litany is a whole different beast that even veterans of the genre may be unprepared for. This album should come with a warning: “Will fracture every bone in the human body.” Seriously, don’t play this around kids.
If this isn’t the fastest album I’ve heard then it’s definitely in the top 3. There are no breaks in its assault, excluding a second or two in between riffs, but even those moments are incredibly sparse.
There is no build up to prepare the listener for the war he or she is about to endure and that makes it all the more effective. The band appropriately bashes their subjects with the rapidly violent opening riffs of “Wings” within the first second of the album and they never stop until its completion. This is what sets Litany apart from other death metal albums. Other death metal bands may sing about dismembering bodies in horrific ways and similar gruesome topics that are more brutal than that of Vader, yet none pummel the listener with pure sound like Litany does.
The lyrics on this album are not particularly intellectually stimulating, but there is no need for them to be. They are filled with enough general animosity to support the insanity of the music. “Cold crowling Death/Crushing mighty roar/Deadly touch of fire/Merciless invaders.” They are even vague to the point of being generic, but upon realizing that the entire purpose of the album is to evoke a general strong sensation of hatred and intensity in the listener, it becomes obvious that these lyrics serve their purpose perfectly.
Because of my constant attention to the album’s consistent unrelenting nature, one may assume that there is a severe lack of range in this album, but that would be a false assumption. There is quite a bit of variety in the riffs as well as a plentiful amount of interesting drum patterns that are quite noticeable, if the listener has any energy to pay attention while he or she is getting beaten in the eardrums with pure rage, but that is precisely my point. Though it may not be obvious on first listen, this band has a ton of ideas on how to kick your ass. It is just that these ideas are often masked by its relentlessness. For proof of this, compare the songs “Xeper” and “Wings.” These are arguably the two most intense tracks on the album yet they are arranged quite differently. “Xeper” relies on the intensity of the drums and the atmosphere of the occasional high pitch guitar notes in order to exaggerate the heavier riffs when they arrive (which is often), while the riffs and drumming in “Wings” are at a constant change and always on the move. To be able to create an experience that is so intense that these obvious differences may go unnoticed on a first listen is quite an accomplishment. This kind of pure intensity is a rarity in the death metal universe.
Litany is an experience that I believe any fan of death metal should endure at least once. It is not my favorite death metal album but it accomplishes what it sets out to achieve flawlessly and for that it deserves a great deal of credit. Some have complained that some of the tracks are too short in length and therefore not developed enough, but I would argue that these people are missing the point of the album. These songs shoot at you like arrows, kill you, and leave. Highly recommended.
