Review Summary: A drunken evaluation of a masterpiece... Reveals the same as a sober evluation, this is a standout record in a discography characterized by a one-trick playbook
As with their previous album 'Black To The Blind', Vader's 'Litany' makes clear in its opening salvo exactly what to expect from the next half an hour, and that is where all comparisons between the two albums must cease. Where its predecessor was a dull, meandering exercise in repetition partially saved by some solid riffing and one standout track, 'Litany' stands proudly as the fastest and heaviest record the band ever produced, colliding with the eardrum with much the same impact as a fifty-tonne truck. This steamrolls the listener from the first minute until the final seconds, and is a highlight in a discography often stained by the sensation of repetition.
"Xeper" shows off the band's first foray into a slightly more complex and technical flourish, and whilst this is short-lived, it is truly effective. "The One Made Of Dreams" commits to baffling all expectations with its brief but confident clean guitar break. "Forwards to Die!!!" allows Piotr to showcase some of his finest vocal work, with the early cry out being the perfect introduction to his vocal style for a newcomer to the band. These three examples, whilst feeling like nothing exceptional for the vast majority of bands, are the exact sort of "moments" that the previous album was lacking. The calm and sombre drum introduction to "A World Of Hurt" leading into a catchy riff that then explodes into another bludgeoning verse is yet another to showcase the dynamics of this album, and the evolution of the band. Describing Vader's sound is usually extremely easy, and simply involves writing fast tremolo riffs over blast beats and repeating this ad nauseum, but that is only one component of 'Litany' and this is why it stands out as arguably the strongest work they have produced to date.
None of this is to say that fans of the band's previous works will be left feeling disappointed after this experience, as these aspects only enhance what was already good about the band. The blasts and tremolo picking is still there, but the little switches in pitch in the notation of the first verse section of "The World Made Flesh" and the brief time taken to introduce the album before the verse kicks in on opening track "Wings" enhance the band's songwriting tenfold. Standout songs are extremely hard to name here, as the whole collection are brilliant, and the relentless pace makes it hard to even differentiate them. Even harder to distinguish are negatives on this release, with the only one that might be applicable being that some of the solos, such as that found on "Wings" lean a little too heavily on their Slayer-influenced backgrounds, and that mesh of mindless shredding doesn't do anything to impress. Aside from that, this album is essentially a masterpiece of brutal, aggressive death metal that should be considered essential to any fan of the genre.
