VADER are a Polish death metal band and shouldn't need much of an introduction as they have reached practically legendary status. Formed all the way back in 1983, the band have an incredible 11 studio albums to their name and this is their first release since 2016's "The Empire" so we can only hope that this EP is a calling card for what's to possibly come in the future. This might be a short review as even with five songs, the EP only lasts 13 minutes and goes by as quickly as a Japanese bullet train.

The album starts off on a high note with "Grand Deceiver", which is just an absolute monster of an opener. It's like the band had planned a five minute opener and were then told to halve the length and so just decided to go as fast as possible to fit the whole track in. It's fast, the vocals are terrific and those guitars are just sublime. I only wish it could be longer so I can enjoy more of it. This continues through to "Litany" which is yet another fast and furious track that thankfully is a little longer than the opener. The vocals here are especially good with Wiwczarek's screams bringing chills right to my spine. More great guitar and drum work and this is another track I love. Next up is easily my favourite track on the album with "Emptiness" bringing all the goods. The sheer riffage and guitar solos on offer are just so enjoyable and those killer verses are pretty much guaranteed to have your head banging during a listen. This is death metal at it's fun best.

"Despair" is the last original track on the album and is 01:19 of pure fury. Somehow the band is able to fit in even more epic solos while still making a big impact with such a short song. This leads into the final track "Steeler" which is a JUDAS PRIEST cover from their 1980 classic album "British Steel". Not too much to say about this one as it doesn't deviate too much from the original track and is just done in the style of VADER so it's still fast paced enough to leave a mark and of course the guitar work is just spot on. The band are known for a couple of very good cover tracks like "Raining Blood" and this is another great one to add to the list. My only issue is I wish we could have had more awesome original material considering how short the songs were.

Still, this was a fantastic EP and easily the best one I've heard all year that has me yearning for a new studio album to sink my teeth into. Every track is worth listening to with a couple of major highlights in the first couple of tracks. Listen to this one when you get a chance.