There are very few bands that have managed to weave a web of mystery around them. Very few have survived and kept going strong until today. When faced with the question, people tend to mention American death-mongers with the likes of Morbid Angel, Deicide or Cannibal Corpse. However, for a few years now in the same breath many have named Vader - perhaps the only band from Europe which has sustained its status for a number of years. Theirs is the cult of musical brutality and the urge to succeed. Few may remember that Vader were the first band ever from behind the Iron Curtain to sign to a Western label while their 1990 demo Morbid Reich is still considered to be the best selling Demo tape in the history of Death Metal.
Ok, enough talk about the history! These guys simply devastate! This music is kind of the soundtrack of the apocalypse (of course it is not even close enough to the mega emperors of hell, Slayer!). This album was produced, mixed and mastered by Wojtek & Slawek Wieslawscy in Hertz Studio at Bialystok, in June 2005. These guys are not willing to sacrifice their artistic integrity for commercialization, that's for sure!
The leads in this hellish album are also extremely well played! There are many wah-wah effects plus many Van Halen-isms which really add to the value of this CD! The album was out on November the 14th, 2005 in Europe and on January the 24th, 2006 in the U.S.A. So what about drawbacks? The only thing that someone can mention is the relatively short duration of this record - which is kind of expected for such a band as Vader! The addition of semi-industrialized instrumental songs such as Para Bellum!!! and Banners On The Wind make the recording sound more rich and differentiated! If you are really interested into intensity, extreme Metal, tough music, pounding drums and the feeling that you are about to be recruited into Satan's military camp then this album seems to match your taste. The vocals of Peter are also really mean, tough and match the whole scenery.
We must also not forget the fact that one of Vader's important gigs took place in 2004 when these slayers played at Silesian Stadium, Chorzow where the band opened for Metallica in front of 50,000 people. Can you imagine shiny happy people anxiously waiting to listen to "Nothing Else Matters and instead of that, getting a stab in their back by Vader's battle music axe! Even though Vader went through significant changes in their lineup - due to the departure of Doc in March of 2005, after 17 years of cooperation - their music sounds really concrete and powerful! Apart from all that, the band also announced their new record deal with Swedish Regain Records.
In my opinion this record might be one of the toughest shit for extreme Metal for 2006! The Art of War is definitely the art of Vader! Moreover the cover artwork was performed by Arkadiusz Jurcan while the design was done by Jacek Wisniewski. This record also gives you the chance to learn some really useful Polish expressions such as Die (Gin Psie), which will prove to come in handy at certain points of your life! The lyrics are also war related and are certainly not the most appropriate thing to sing to your precious girlfriend - except if she is deeply interested in the real sadomasochistic art of war!
- Album Highlights: This Is The War, What Colour Is Your Blood? and Death In Silence.