I have never been a big fan of this new wave of bands that dive into the seventies, but KADAVAR to me means something different: I have always liked first of all their moniker, more linked to a death tradition (so actually first time I listened to them I was quite surprised, expecting something really different), then of course the music. Let's start from the beginning: the cover. Usually, all the albums from KADAVAR do not shine for their covers, and "For the Dead Travel Fast" is no exception, but I have to admit, this one has some gothic appeal - although I still do not like it. The album starts with "The End" (quite a contradiction, isn'it?), a short song that sets a dark and lunatic atmosphere, and introduces to the mid-tempo of "The Devil's Master", where the hypnotic vocals of  "Lupus" Lindemann are the true highlights of the song, that pays a big tribute to the Black Sabbath tradition. Not my favorite track (but still strong), but the atmosphere set by the chorus is remarkable.

Instead I love the energetic "Evil Forces", with the riffing guitars and and high-pitched notes, as well as the drums patterns. A dark atmosphere introduces "Children of the Night", but it suddenly transforms in a brilliant seventies song, with some pop influences; again, a brilliant song with a brilliant construction (and, additionally, I love the short guitar solo). The melancholic guitars would make "Dancing with the Dead" perfect for any Tarantino movie, while the following "Poison" does not convince me, especially with verse-stop-verse structure. "Demons in my Mind" associates hypnotic riffs with some pop from the seventies, especially in the verses, with some powerful drumming; not an highlight of the album, but it is an interesting song. The dreamy and ethereal "Saturnales" is putting a lot of accent on the created atmosphere, resulting almost in an experimental track, before the long and conclusive "Long Forgotten Song", starting slow and suddenly accelerating, but then slowing down again, with a sort of funeral theme before the final long solo; I would say this is the most doomy and complex song from the album, but, in my opinion, not the right way to close the album.

While I still like this album, I can unfortunately say that it is divided in two: solid and consistent in the first part, a little weaker in the second one, with some weak tracks like "Poison" and "Long Forgotten Song", which does not sound to me like the perfect closing song. But in the first half, Lupus, Tiger and Dragon truly rock!