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Class 6(66)
Vader: Litany
18/03/11 || revenant
Back in the day before K did some spring cleaning with the delete key, there was an excellent guest review by former Floodhorse on Vader’s classic album “Litany”. I have to admit, I barely knew of Vader prior to finding this site, and after reading Floodhorse’s fantastic review, I just had to check them out for myself. I became an instant fan. While K’s deletions opened up the opportunity for me to cover this album for myself (and album that made such an impact I named it the fifth best of the last decade), I actually prefer to see the review that led me to that purchase re-posted. The passion with which this review is written is without question, and such great work shouldn’t be mothballed. So without further ado (and with the permission of the author), I give you forumer Floodhorse’s excellent “Litany” coverage in its full glory:
Introduction
“Litany”. A cornerstone in death metal, no more, no less. I still remember when I got my first Vader album, and I wasn’t actually a big death metal fan at all, except for Cannibal Corpse and Gorefest. The sick twist here is that the first Vader album I heard was “Revelations”, at the time of its release. I had of course seen ancient, gritty VHS recordings of the Dark Age video several years earlier, with its groundbreaking lip sync display, without getting too impressed. Believe it or not, I didn’t know “Litany” existed for a long time, and I got almost all the other albums without registering that elusive “Litany” disc. Not to mention that when I finally did get it on the radar, I for some reason thought it was older than “Black to the Blind”, and hence had low hopes for it (yes, I see the lack of logic in that statement). At my first Vader gig, I didn’t even know about the album, damnit! Pointless story aside, I finally got the album and got blown. Away, that is.
Songwriting
9 Nine big, fat points. I have a theory that a trained ear can easily hear when bands hit that zone when songs write themselves, and I believe that this album is one of those, written very fast, with the metal flowing like a liquid substance on a slanted surface. The songs just come across as spur of the moment bursts of energy that just had to come out before they forgot the riffs. Not saying that the songs sound rushed either, just people working in complete unison to craft the definitive death metal album. Fast. The songs are simple as hell, but intense and all business. Personal highlights are the first four tracks, with “Wings” being the template to be used by up and coming bands wanting to create a brilliant death metal epic, it simply contains everything that is awesome about death metal. “Xeper” is another crowd pleaser, for good reason. Rolling along as a six ton tennis ball, its only drawback is the caress of the feminine guitar strings at the 0:11 mark. Totally uncalled for, in an otherwise ultra masculine epic such as this. That unnecessary fumbling is also where it’s most evident that the song was originally written for a slower tempo. The real gem of the album is nonetheless the title track, with its perfectly crafted transitions between parts where the drums and guitars are in perfect unison. It’s also the track where the drumming is at its peak. The genius needed to create those drum parts and fills and pull them off in that manner is unbelievable.
Production
8 The production on this album is always up for debate. This goes especially for the kick sound, which is the first thing that hits you directly in the left thigh after a fraction of a second into album opener “Wings”. It can be made a point that the kick sound may have been overdone a bit, but there is no denying that the kicks pack a serious punch, and that the album wouldn’t be the same with a more laid back or conservative kick sound. Organic and beautiful, just like cannon fire. One can always wonder why they paired those gargantuan kicks with such a tight and bottomless snare, but it works fine. The snare tends to disappear during blasts, which is a natural thing as the snare is obviously as natural as a large whale. The toms are on the other hand a perfect match with the kicks, as is clearly evident on the fills at the end of the title track. Mix this with a very loose hihat and a ride sound I would give both my hands for, and we are left with perfection. The guitars are a different beast, as they often sound kind of thin, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing as their objective is simply churning out tons of chainsaw riffs with some power chords here and there, before releasing yet another load of chainsaw riffs. The guitar sound is pretty dirty and raw, with very little compression, which fits the music like a glove. The bass is nowhere to be found, so I couldn’t tell you anything about the sound of that one. It’s probably OK, though. So, in conclusion, this is a brilliant example of the golden era of production, when not everybody had the same recording equipment. This era gave us albums with character, a factor which is sadly missing in today’s death metal. Too bad that Vader actually later went on to be the prime example of just the opposite…
Guitars
8 What is there to be said about the guitars on this album? Not much, I’m afraid. Piotr Wiwczarek and Maurycy Stefanowicz sure know how to churn out brilliant chainsaw riffs, and lots of them, but none of them are a new Django Reinhardt. In my humble opinion the guitar playing can even be called sloppy at times. What salvages the Vader guitar ship is the intensity and inspired delivery. The solos go by unnoticed, but do not pull anything down, so that’s OK too. If the production didn’t cover the overall sloppiness, I would have given the guitars a 6, but they do exactly what the production needs, which is to add chaos and intensity, so an 8 is deserved. But I’m pretty sure it would sound like manure with a drier and more compressed guitar sound.
Vocals
9 Piotr is actually one of my favourite death metal vocalists. Hell, he is one of my favourite vocalists, period. Neither classic growling nor high pitched screaming, but somewhere in between, it fits the music perfectly. Very abrasive and intense, and very recognizable. Piotr is from an era when not everybody knew how to growl, and people actually got an identity of their own while developing their style, not just copying other people. No effects or such crap present at all, just characteristic vocals performed by one of the originators.
Bass
6 As mentioned above, the bass is nowhere to be found. Maybe it’s my stereo system that isn’t up to the task, but I have never heard anything which sounds like an electric bass guitar on Litany. The bass player has always been faceless in Vader, until Novy came along some years later, of course. The bass on this one was performed by a certain Leszek Rakowski, who obviously was not present during the mixing of the album. The score is only to reflect the fact that I have no clue to what is going on with the bass. Leszek may be the true Steve Harris of death metal, furiously wanking all over the place, but sadly we will never know if that is the case or not.
Drums
10 Now we come to the good stuff. It’s no secret
that I think Krzysztof Raczkowski is probably the best death metal
drummer ever. He was not copying other people, he was one of the
originators. No tricks, no hummingbirdery or unnecessary wankery, just a
total bonanza of flawless blasts, incredible fills and double kicks
threatening to screw up your heart rate. Everything a death metal
drummer is supposed to do, he did. And he did it with an intensity and
force that is yet to be equaled. These days death metal drummers tend to
put too much emphasis on speed, blasting up and down until you fall
asleep. Krzysztof was not super fast compared to the machines of today,
but he was just fast enough to keep the intensity and power, without
boring us with minutes of constant snare porn. I would like to take this
opportunity to break down what made the man the greatest:
Blasts: No cyclic blasts to be found. This type of second tier blasts is
when the second or third ride hit is harder than the rest, going
through cycles to take the tension off the muscles in the wrists. That
is how posers, women and girly men blast, and Krzysztof was well aware
of this. The so-called machine gun effect (where every hit is equally
powerful) is frowned upon today, due to it usually being a sign of
triggering and hummingbirdery, which says a lot about where extreme
drumming has gone. Krzysztof really was a human drum machine, and the
blasts throughout Litany are brilliantly performed. There are actually
some cyclic blasts used on “The Calling”, at about the 2:35 mark. He is
forgiven, due to the fact that he obviously strikes the ride harder than
usual, adding more intensity than is taken away. Also check out at the
2:22 mark on the title track for spectacular escalation/blending of
blasts with the perfectly executed thrash beat, with the blasts finally
taking over at the end. Pure brilliance.
Fills: Not only the king of blasts, Krzysztof was also the king of
fills. Lots of drummers get stuck, using the same type of fills all the
time, making listening to a whole album less than stimulating. Krzysztof
never stopped experimenting and coming up with new and brilliant fills.
He also never used those “tom rolls while keeping time with the kicks”
fills which is all the rage with the new breed of death metal drummers
nowadays. He mixed it all, and I am amazed at his extremely good taste
when it comes to fills. There are numerous examples for you to check
out:
• The blast fill at 0:22 on “The One Made of Dreams”. Yes, it’s a fill done with blasts. Perfection.
• The intro fill to the title track, at 0:06, which is one of the
absolute highlights of the album. That shit is harder to pull off than
you think. It’s followed shortly after with the absolute fill pinnacle
of “Litany” at the 0:19 mark. That transition with the double kicks and
muted crashes followed by that bell hit is art, nothing less than art.
• Again on the title track, we have the ending of the song, with the
tom/kick fill combination. This is where the production really shines,
as you are gazing out the window looking for the lightning to go with
the thunderstorm which seems to be coming.
• We also have the two almost-out-of-control snare fills in “Cold
Demons”, never failing to put a smile on my face and drool on my chest.
• The fill at 2:03 in “The World Made Flesh”, right before going into
the blasts. That’s how it’s supposed to be done, goddamn it!
To sum it up: combine the blasts, the fills and everything else the way
Krzysztof did it on Litany, and you cannot fail. When you listen to his
drumming, you can clearly picture the man with his perfect technique
(the old school style, not the gay modern style), sweating and working
overtime behind the kit. There will never be another drummer doing this
with the same combination of power, technique, intensity, inventiveness
and style as him. He left us way before his time, and he was still at
the top of his game. RIP.
Lyrics
8 To be powerfully honest, I have never looked at the lyrics of this album until now. It pleases me to see that the majority of the lyrics are written by Vader’s secret weapon, outsider lyricist Pavel Frelik. Very well written stuff about ancient gods and mysticism, which brings another dimension to the whole album. There are even some additional liner notes, which make the whole thing more interesting. It’s always nice when lyrics are meant to mean something, not just a necessary evil so the vocal guy will have something to sing. This liner note phenomenon was even more apparent on the “Black to the Blind” lyrics, which were more of the same. Piotr himself also wrote a couple of lyrics for “Litany”, which are in a totally different league compared to Pavel’s masterpieces. Piotr is more concerned with straight forward war lyrics, but it fits the songs, so it’s OK. I will still subtract a bit from the score for Piotr’s effort, which is not in the same league as Pavel’s. Sorry, man.
Cover art
9 This cover is very close to being a perfect ten. The only thing wrong is that the dude with wings should have been a woman with wings. Whether the person on the cover is the winner or the loser of the mud wrestling match is anybody’s guess. Nevertheless, wings always look cool. Good job, Jacek Wiśniewski.
Logo
9 Why they felt the need to change one of the coolest logos of all time will always be a mystery to me, but at least they have the right one on this album. Simple and to the point, but it does the job with a vengeance.
Booklet
8 The booklet is actually very nice. It consists basically of the lyrics on top of various sinister photoshopped images of various symbols and assorted ancient looking stuff. At the last page we find the mandatory band pic, with the guys looking to be in great spirits. Accompanying the pic is a general thank you list, to avoid listing up tons of people no one knows.
Overall and ending rant
This album was made at a time when death metal wasn’t as generic as it is today. Put this album against any death metal album released the last two years, and watch the pieces of the new breed fly. The power and intensity of “Litany” is unparalleled even to this day, and no amount of gravity blasts can change that. This is the pinnacle of Vader’s history, and as much as they try, they will never recreate this, I am sorry to say. I am generally fond of melody in my music, and blasting death metal doesn’t actually deliver that as default. The way Vader combines melodic yet brutal chainsaw riffs is sort of the best of two worlds, as neither the melody or the brutality dominates, but rather give each other that much more of an edge. Call it a symbiotic relationship which is not understood by many bands, which often end up with “brutal” parts and “melodic” parts, not combining the two. At least not in the perfect blend Vader had on “Litany”. Melody does not have to come at the expense of brutality and intensity, people. Listen to “Litany” and learn how it’s supposed to be done. This album is mandatory for every death metal fan out there. I will use that word which fits so good one more time: Perfection.
- Information
- Released: 2000
- Label: Metal Blade
- Website: www.vader.pl
- Band
- Piotr Wiwczarek: vocals, guitars
- Maurycy Stefanowicz: guitars
- Leszek Rakowski: bass
- Krzysztof Raczkowski: drums
- Tracklist
- 01. Wings
- 02. Xeper
- 03. Litany
- 04. Cold Demons
- 05. The Calling
- 06. North
- 07. The One Made of Dreams
- 08. Forwards to Die!!!
- 09. A World of Hurt
- 10. The World Made Flesh
- 11. The Final Massacre
