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Vader: Necropolis
30/09/09 || Euthanatos
Huh. That was my first reaction when I listened to “Necropolis”. After a few other listens, that’s still my basic line-of-thought; “huh, who woulda thought?”.
Vader have been not-so-quietly making the rounds in the death metal world since the early nineties, and somewhere between “Black to the Blind” and “Revelations” everyone suddenly seemed to know who they were, catapulting them from the most underrated death metal band to a somewhat overrated image of a gargantuan metal force. Don’t get me wrong, I love most of their albums and they put on one of the most brutal and solid live shows I’ve ever seen. Well, at least they did when the old drummer was still alive and there were people other than Piotr in the fold.
And that’s where we should really start things off. After everyone came to notice Vader with the release of “Revelations”, something odd happened in that the band members didn’t really stick. Bassists came and went, Doc passed away and eventually even Mauser went gay. Shit happens, but for some bizarre reason, shit decided to happen to Vader all the goddamn time. In these times of strife, one truly sees those who are strong and fit for survival, and in that sense, hats off to Piotr, who has stuck through it all and still releases a good album in “Necropolis”, which is practically a solo effort.
Piotr seems to have been responsible for everything and them some, leaving only the drums to be done by Paweł Jaroszewicz. Now, I thought Dariusz “Daray” Brzozowski was a fucking killer drummer on Vader (I have no idea how he’s doing in Dimmu, nor do I care), but I can’t say Pawel is sub-par at all. I’m just not as impressed by his performance. Compared to Daray and his apparent octopus arms, Pawel seems just like a normal human being, but one extremely skilled in the art of drumming. So, a step down, but we were at the very top, so all is well.
As for my initial reaction of surprise, it’s because, let’s face it, love it or hate it, Vader have been releasing pretty much the same album for 15 years. Sure, it’s a damn good album, and sometimes we don’t want bands to change their mojo(see AC/DC, Motörhead and so on), and I suspect Vader was the case. “Necropolis”, though, does bring some different elements into the band, in song structure and execution as well. It’s not as desperately fast as “Impressions in Blood” and “The Beast” (although it’s still death metal fast), and while still brutal, it finds room for some ambient and surprisingly melodic choices. The solos are still your classic Kerry King rip-offs, though, and Piotr’s vocals, to me one of the best in the genre, hasn’t changed an ounce. I’m glad the vocals haven’t changed, but I would like to see some exploring guitar-wise. If Piotr’s not up to it, why not get Decapitated’s Vogg to do it? I don’t think anyone would mind.
On the plus side, total thumbs up to the epic “When the Sun Drowns in Dark”, which closes the album and is butt-fuckingly good.
In many ways this is what one would expect from a Vader album, since Piotr has always been the mastermind behind the group and this is, more than ever, his show. But I feel he definitely went on a limb here and tried his best to innovate, naturally staying within the boundaries of the Vader legacy and his own limitations.
I think that if Piotr finally incorporates his session members into Vader full-time and actually allows them to contribute, we might be faced with his best record yet. But, as far as “Necropolis” goes, it’s a fun album, a surprising effort, but not better than some of the past classics.
The cover: snakes on a… skull?
- Information
- Released: 2009
- Label: Nuclear Blast
- Website: www.vader.pl
- Band
- Piotr “Peter” Wiwczarek: vocals, guitars, bass
- Paweł “Paul” Jaroszewicz: drums
- Tracklist
- 01. Devilizer
- 02. Rise of the Undead
- 03. Never Say My Name
- 04. Blast
- 05. The Seal
- 06. Dark Heart
- 07. Impure
- 08. Summoning the Futura
- 09. Anger
- 10. We Are the Horde
- 11. When the Sun Drowns in Dark
