POLSKA!

I'll admit that I'm not the biggest fan of straight up Death metal. Not to take anything away from it but for the most part it's just not my thing. While I do find the ability to continually blast beat through an entire song pretty impressive it just gets a bit tedious after a while. In addition to the fact that I just can't get into the cookie monster vocals. Vader, however, while definitely promoting pretty much every quality that would classify them as a death metal band seem to bring just enough variety to the mix to elevate them to a different level. I mean, there's a reason they're celebrating their 20th anniversary this year.

I'm sure Poland is a really nice place to visit but frankly it's probably the last place you'd want to live if you were an aspiring metal musician. Considering the bands that have come from there over the last few years you're pretty much screwed unless you're confident enough to say that your music is genuinely bonkers. Even bands like Behemoth which I mean, let's be honest, sound a lot like Vader can still be huge just because hell, if you have the ability to sound like Vader then you're worth hearing. I'll save some other examples simply because they're worthy of their own posts.

If I was at all respectful I would profile a song pre 2004's Beast out of tribute to Doc, (Vader's drummer who recently passed away after a long struggle with drugs) and there's no denying that Doc was incredible but I'm moving forward here so we're going to look at the second song from Vader's newest EP called The Art of War.

This is the War is classic Vader ridiculousness. Seriously, as cool as this song is you can't help but chuckle a bit. In a way Vader is actually paying tribute to Doc's legacy these days by replacing him with what seems to be a robot. Have you heard that blast beat? Sweet Marie! For those who don't know what I mean just listen for the snare which is being played with one hand. Apparently the drummers name is Daray which doesn't really argue too much in favor of him being human. I'm even convinced that the cover of the EP is the new drummer. I was saying before that Vader somehow brings different things to their riffage that pushes them into a place that I find more interesting. In the case of this song you'll hear a break in the low muted part of the guitar riff to a higher two note slide(bad description? how's this - dunununuh wee-aaaa) it's when the vocals come in and it's cool and different. Not to mention a great ascending guitar part into the ever so classic wah soaked whammy pick tapped squealy lead.

Sidenote: Derek Roddy is also a robot