Vader

Black To The Blind

(c)1998 Pavement Music Inc.

Review by Vladimir Levin

Thanks to Pavement for the CD

"My Number is 11, as all their numbers who are of us.
The Five Pointed Star, with a Circle in the Middle, and
the circle is Red. My colour is black to the blind, but
the blue and gold are seen of the seeing. Also I have a secret
glory for them that love me."

-- Book of the Law 1:60 (front CD jacket)

Vader's "Back to the Blind" is 10 tracks of double-bass drums, blast beats, demonic lyrics, truculent death vocals and reeling dervish guitar solos.

As my tastes were molded by the twin-lead guitar NWOBHM sound of Iron Maiden and so-called classic metal in general, I tend not to enjoy raw, brutal 'old school' death metal in the vein of Obituary or Cannibal Corpse. However, a number of bands have successfully combined the relentlessness of death metal with melodic components, for example bands such as Death (circa "Symbolic"), Edge of Sanity (circa "Spectral Sorrows", "Purgatory Afterglow") as well as Gothenberg-style bands like Dark Tranquility and At The Gates.

Vader doesn't stray as far into the progressive realm as some of the above bands -- it's still very much brutal death metal -- but the approach is refreshing and original. The guitars have a more metallic sound and a higher than usual treble component. Also, the melodic solos soften the brutality of the blast beats and tuned down rhythm guitar warbling that distinctly identifies the core death metal sound. Additionally, Vader adds some ambient noise and industrial flavour to some of the songs in the form of chorded humming and synth.

The lyrics are interesting, but nevertheless can safely be summed up as the usual dark mysticism one finds frequently in this type of music. The lyrics are still effective however, and lend a "Lord of the Flies" feral quality to the album (strengthened by the photo on the back of the CD featuring the band all wet, half-naked and covered in red paint, filth and dirty rags).

It's probably not the band's intent, but the quote on the front flap of the CD booklet can be used to define Vader's music. It comes off to the untrained ear as 'generic' death metal, but upon further listening reveals deeper intricacies.

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