Vader
De Profundis

Release Date: 1995 | Tracklist

Vader is a band that is widely recognized throughout the death metal community, and for a good reason. They have the skill, the musical knowledge and the determination to deserve a top spot in the death metal scene. It just seems to me that they are lacking a very important factor in music as a whole and not just metal and that is variety. When you think of Vader, you of think blast beats, fast picking, grinding riffs and of course the signature bark of the lead singer, Piotr Wiwczarek. Let me tell you what, that is EXACTLY what you get from their sophomore effort, De Profundis. To some that might be a bad thing and others might be glad that Vader just found an awesome sound that worked for them and stuck with it. I guess I’d rather they stay the same then start to suck.

Honestly, this album is quite repetitive. There’s nothing innovative or different here, but there is some really quality music. As repetitive as it may be, I can honestly say it’s not boring. Riffs you can headbang to and songs that are intense and powerful. What else do you really need? There are other things we might WANT, but when it comes to metal, that’s all you really need. Vader is the band that all the modern death metal acts could look to for a rough idea of where to start. The music is standard, by the book death metal, but I’ll be damned if it’s not fun to listen to once in a while. Just once in a while, because anymore than that will start to get boring. Not much replay value in this album, but after you’ve kind of forgotten about it (which honestly shouldn’t be that hard) and you decide to give it a listen after not hearing it in a while, it’s quite an enjoyable experience.

Love this album or hate it, there’s no denying the skill that it takes to create an album like this. This is a solo-heavy record, and while they may be sloppy and chock-full of whammies, they are still very impressive. Sadly, that doesn’t always mean fun to listen to. The solos are actually my least favorite part of most of the songs because they are almost totally devoid of melody or any clear structure, which for me is a turn-off. I still stay tuned, because the riffs are still heavy and easily headbangable. The drums are exactly what you expect; a ***load of double bass and a ***load of blast beats. This is totally fine with me, it fits with the rest of the instrumentation very well. My only other gripe about this aspect of the album are the vocals. Piotr has a very good death metal voice, but it just doesn’t feel like he’s using it to it’s full potential. They sound kind of lazy, but they are still recognizable and somewhat unique. While I think the vocals could be done better, Vader wouldn’t be the same without his style of growls.

All in all, this album is by no means a masterpiece, nor is it really any of Vader’s best work (even though it all sounds strikingly similar). Still, it’s far from a bad record and it deserves your attention for at least a little while. If you’ve got a short attention span, you probably won’t enjoy this as much as some of the more patient metalheads will. You don’t really need to be paying attention that well to really appreciate the album to it’s fullest potential, you just need to be willing to sit through what is essentially a thirty-four minute death metal song separated into nine. It’s a fairly quick album, doesn’t overstay it’s welcome so most metal fans should be able to get into it if they just feel like throwing on some tunes and rocking the *** out for a little while. It’s nothing too serious, it’s not meant for deep contemplation like some progressive death metal bands. It’s just an album for people that come home on a Friday evening and want to unwind with some old school death metal.

Recommended Tracks:

An Act of Darkness
Revolt
Reborn in Flames

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4 excellent

Rank: #99 for 1995