Vader - Solitude In Madness

Key Facts

Country: 🇵🇱

Genre: Death Metal

Release Date: 1st May 2020

Record Label(s): Nuclear Blast

Band Members

Piotr "Peter" Wiwczarek – lead guitar, vocals

Marek "Spider" Pająk – rhythm guitar

Tomasz "Hal" Halicki – bass

James Stewart – drums 

Vader - Into Oblivion

Review
Rating (out of 5🤘): 🤘🤘🤘🤘.5
Favourite Track(s): And Satan Wept, Bones, Shock And Awes, Into Oblivion, Incineration Of The Gods

Polish death metal legends Vader have stormed back into the limelight with their brand new album, Solitude In Madness! A fast paced, action packed, ravenous knowing beast of an album that has decimated my ear drums for all the right reasons. Following on from 2017's Dark Age, which in itself was another awesome death metal album, Solitude In Madness picks up the baton and takes off when Dark Age finished. With their distinct sound and passion for unrelenting riffs and screeching leads, this is one of the most brutal half hours you'll go through!

Musically, it is signature Vader, fast paced booming death metal with a hint of thrash. Which probably explains why some of the songs are so short, because the whole album from start to finished could be compared to a hound of hell on copious amounts of prime cut Colombian fairy dust. With that in mind when the slower sections (yes! there are some) come in there is a lot more groove to the riffs that keeps you moving, more reminiscent of an Obituary style of death metal.  For a band that has been around for nearly forty years, to be they still sound fresh to me and they are the best at what they know. Whilst the album does what it says on the tin and gives you a straightforward death metal album, the nuances of thrash that weave their way through the album is what gives this album it's death. With the screeching leads (when harmonised sound even more epic than they already were) being signature death metal, the thundering thrash rhythms set this apart from some of the other death metal albums I've listened to recently. The added grooves spice up the rhythms compared to your bog standard death metal album and it's something I've really enjoyed about this album. Overall, it is another solid album from the Polish legends and won't fail to get me hyped up!

The production is a lot cleaner on Solitude In Madness compared to 2017's Dark Age and more so when compared to 2016's The Empire. Whilst it still captures the aggression of a Vader album, it lacks some of the grittiness of previous records, in my opinion. Even so, the whole album sounds huge and imposing, with every conceivable crevice filled with a sonic bombardment! The rhythm guitar tones are like two chainsaws going off in my ears, while the lead tone is sharp like a razor blade cutting through the mix with devastating effect. The snare has a relentless snap that sounds like a machine gun and while the kick thunders underneath. I like the extra amount of kick click in this album as it suits the sound so well. Overall, an incredibly professional and slick album, its just a shame its so short!

My only gripe is that the album lasts half an hour, so it almost feels like its over before it's begun. Anyway, if you fancy a big dose of Polish death metal, chuck this in your ears!

Vader - Solitude In Madness