Review Summary: Vader knock it out the park for the second successive album, honing their craft into a sleek and well oiled machine churning out death metal classic after death metal classic. For such a late stage in their career, the band well and truly have entered a r
Vader almost did something incredible with 2014's 'Tibi Et Igni.' With the release of 'Welcome to The Morbid Reich,' it felt as though the band's later career had hit a peak that would be extremely hard to top, and yet 'Tibi Et Igni' boasts all the elements that would allow it to surpass that record. The production is sharper, the intensity is ramped up to eleven, and the old-school riffs are as hypnotic as ever. This is a violent, brutal album that came remarkably close to becoming a career-defining classic.
One of the most instantly discernible aspects of the album is just how relentless it is. 'Welcome To The Morbid Reich' was an unrelentingly heavy beast, but the production here is so razor sharp and the music so oppressive that its is bewildering. At times, there is a savage hook found in the tremolo picking that feels akin to something like a better Thy Art Is Murder, whilst the mixture of power chords and singular notes scattered throughout the mid-tempo moments ensure that any concerns with a lack of variety in the band's sound are addressed.'Tibi Et Igni' ticks all the right boxes, and is arguably the heaviest album released by Vader through their lengthy career, and yet never grows stale.
"Go To Hell" opens the album with some symphonic elements that could be found on a film score, before exploding into life after a minute and a half. The riffing here feels slightly more complex than much of what has been seen from Vader before, and whilst they are never going to suddenly adapt into a 2010's technical death metal act, the little flourishes ending some of the riffs do not go amiss. The breaks in the drumming occasionally to allow certain guitar lines to stand alone also work wonders here, whilst the soloing is suitably chaotic. Piotr's vocals are as commanding as on their prior few albums, and some of the catchier moments found in tracks like "Hexenkessel" stand out as some of his strongest vocal output. "The Eye Of The Abyss" is one of the band's longer tracks, opening with some more cinematic-sounding instrumentation, before descending into the death metal madness Vader are known and loved for. The lead work that opens the heavier bulk of this song is absolutely pristine, and could not be better placed.
If there is one area where 'Tibi Et Igni' falls a little short of its predecessor, it is in the lack of standout songs. 'Welcome To The Morbid Reich' had memorable classics such as "Come And See My Sacrifice," whereas this album is one where each track blends into the next. This is a very small criticism, and in many ways does not detract from the album as a whole, but it did feel as though it was beginning to drone a little towards the end. Despite this, 'Tibi Et Igni' is a monilithic triumph from a band enjoying something of a renaissance at this point in their career.
