Monday, November 7, 2016

Vader : "the Empire"





The riffs feel like they meet more at the place where thrash turned into death metal metal. This of course really brings out their Sodom influence. The second song"Tempest" feels a little more like death metal to me. It also catches my ear with more urgency than the opener that flashes by in a blur of furious speed. "Prayer to the God of War" is from the "Iron Times" ep that came out earlier in the year. It is still a pretty solid song, I think I would listen to it more in the context of this album than on that ep. I do think aside from the sick mosh groove they hit after the solo that the first two song might be a little better.  Things slow down a little for "Iron Reign". This has more of a classic metal feel to it , and by classic I mean post- NWOBHM going into the thrash years.

They slam over you in the rapid fire charge of "No Gravity". This is very aggressive, but the least interesting so far. "Genocidius" finds them resorting to speed again. For some reason the vocal have a bit of an Obituary like feel to them on this album. There is a good trash groove that eventually develops making it more redeemable than the previous song.  By the time I get to "Armygeddon" I am beginning to think this thrash album is so heavy that it feels like death metal, instead of this death metal band has been around for some time and picking up where they left off. They do lock into a more staccato march on this song. "Feel My Pain" comes across like a jagged mess for the bulk of the song as a bunch of guitar is thrown at you with no real direction.

"Parabellum" is the second song on this album from that "Iron Times"  I mentioned earlier. It is fairly speedy and has more of a Sodom like feel to it. There is more groove to "Send Me Back to Hell" which closes the album. At it's mid paced chug it feels almost like a death metal band trying to cover Metallica. I'll give this album a 7.5. It's pretty solid only a couple songs don't really click with me. I don't think it's the band's strongest album, but fans of the band should be into it.


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