Few bands have such unswerving dedication to the death metal cause as Vader, the legendary Polish outfit whose extremity is matched only by the consistent quality of their output. Back with a new EP, tracked over the course of just a week at Hertz Studio, Bialystok with the help of their long-standing collaborators, the Wieslawski Brothers (Azarath, Behemoth, Decapitated), Vader once again prove themselves to be monstrously ahead of the competition. The EP, available via Nuclear Blast, features three new tracks, a re-recording of Litany and a cover of Judas Priest’s Steeler, whilst the typically excellent cover art is courtesy of Wes Besncoter (Slayer, Kreator) – all in all a fantastic stop-gap until the next full-length comes along.
Kicking off with the boiling cauldron of hate that is grand deceiver, Vader deliver a sub-three-minute blast of blast beats, harrowing screams and churning riffs, underscoring the fact that time has done nothing to diminish the ire of Vader. Short and razor sharp, grand deceiver promises great things for the next full-length offering. Next up, the reinvigorated litany shows that the band’s song-writing was impressively on-point from the start, whilst the updated production gives the song considerably more heft than the drum-heavy original incarnation on the eponymous album from which it is drawn. Emptiness is another coruscating shot to the temple, designed to leave the listener dizzied and disoriented, the frantic fretwork that opens the track giving way to a pummelling riff with a surprising amount of groove at its heart. It’s the EP’s highlight, although it faces some stiff competition from the blazingly short despair, which hits home like a tactical missile, dealing lasting damage in just over a minute of insane blast beats and serrated riffing. The Ep ends with the band’s take on Judas Priest’s evergreen steeler, rendered here with punkish thuggery, as if Vader are caught between their love of Priest and their admiration for Motorhead. It manages to both pay tribute to the mighty Priest and show the Vader boys having some fun in the studio and it brings the EP to a suitably raucous close.
Offering up five tracks in just thirteen minutes, Thy Messenger is a fantastic stop-gap from a legendary band. The new tracks positively seethe with malevolent rage, whilst the Priest cover caps things off with a certain impish glee that is somewhat irresistible. Needless to say, it’s an essential purchase for Vader fans, but anyone with a taste for the extreme should consider a copy, it’s pretty fucking epic. 8.5
