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The legendary Vader return with one of their best albums yet.-
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| Vader: Welcome to the Morbid Reich |
Death Metal, Thrash Metal
Nuclear Blast Records
September 13th, 2011
- Ultima Thule - 0:49
- Return to the Morbid Reich - 3:27
- The Black Eye - 4:13
- Come and See My Sacrifice - 4:44
- Only Hell Knows - 2:14
- I Am Who Feasts Upon Your Soul - 4:51
- Don't Rip the Beast's Heart Out - 3:58
- I Had a Dream... - 3:03
- Lord of Thorns - 2:39
- Decapitated Saints - 2:41
- They Are Coming... - 1:47
- Black Velvet and Skulls of Steel - 3:20
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| Review Information |
Release length: 37:45
Review posted on September 6th, 2011
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| | Overall Score: 8.5/10 |
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| Discography |
Discography covers all information available up to day of review and is updated if future albums are reviewed. |
| Full-Length(s): |
The Ultimate Incantation (1993) • De Profundis (1995) • Black to the Blind (1997) • Litany (2000) • Revelations (2002)
The Beast (2004) • Impression in Blood (2006) • Necropolis (2009) • Welcome to the Morbid Reich (2011)
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| EP(s): |
Sothis (1994) • Kingdom (1998) • Reign Forever World (2001) • Blood (2003) • The Art of War (2005) • Lead Us!!! (2008)
The Upcoming Chaos (2008)
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| Split(s): |
Nile / Vader (2009)
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| Single(s): |
An Act of Darkness / IFY (1995) • Carnal / Black to the Blind (1997) • Xeper / North (2000) • Angel of Death (2002)
Beware the Beast (2004) • v.666 (2008) • Come and See My Sacrifice (2011) • Decapitated Saints (2011)
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| Demo(s): |
Live in Decay (1986) • Necrolust (1989) • Morbid Reich (1990)
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| Compilation(s): |
Reborn in Chaos (1996) • Future of the Past (1996) • Armageddon (2002) • XXV (2008)
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| Live CD(s): |
The Darkest Age (1994) • Live in Japan (1998)
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| DVD(s): |
Vision and Voice (VHS) (1998) • More Vision and the Voice (2002) • Night of the Apocalypse (2004)
And Blood was Shed in Warsaw (2007)
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| Review |
Vader is one of those bands in the Metal world that doesn't really need an introduction, mostly because at this point you've heard of the group, owned one of their releases, or came across them on the internet or through a friend. The band formed back in 1983, and recently celebrated their twenty fifth anniversary as a group. Surprisingly though, given that amount of time, the group has only issued eight full-length recordings, but that has not stopped Vader from reaching legendary status among the Metal masses. Can this band dominate once more with their ninth full-length studio album, Welcome to the Morbid Reich?
If you heard a recent Vader album, you just about know what you're getting yourself into here. The band never really messes with their formula much anymore, but that's fine considering their full-lengths are typically really strong efforts that earn plenty of critical praise, and this one is no exception to that. Again, the band's music sounds digital and modern, but still has a muddy slight rawness to it that helps it all sound as intense as possible. The guitars are bludgeoning with their mostly fast paced riffs and heavy, deeper distortion, complimented perfectly by the bass that is loud enough to be heard and slightly felt, not really overdoing the presence due to the already deep guitars. The drum kicks have that loud click and are discernable against the natural sounding snares and moderately impressive cymbol crashes. It all comes together to create a sound that feels a bit thick and, what is the best way to put it, a bit smokey. The only issue here is that this sound and atmosphere doesn't really match the vocals which are actually pretty loud and clear, making you wish the music were a little cleaner and louder in the long run.
Despite that yearning for a cleaner, louder sound to the music that you just can't really get with the album, the album is fantastic and doesn't stray from the typical Vader performance other then the fact that they manage to outdo themselves in many songs. The atmosphere is established well with the introductory track "Ultima Thule", giving a cold and desolate war setting to the music, which actually sounds more like an orchestral introduction you'd expect from Dimmu Borgir. Even the start of the title track, "Return to the Morbid Reich" has that feel thanks to "Ultima Thule" bleeding into it. However, once the introduction is finally complete, you are greeted with a superb mixture of pounding Thrash and Death Metal brutality, the likes of which fans of Vader have come to know and expect. This track and many others that follow jump between mid-tempo and faster paces, for the most part being the latter of the two. This works well to create a strong authoritive sound to the release that often will get your head banging, though "Return to the Morbid Reich" won't always have you involuntarily banging your head along to it after a few spins, as it does feel a little toned down compared to some of the later tracks on this release, even those pretty much following right after it.
"Come and See My Sacrifice" really becomes the first song to really start wailing on the listener with a strong Metal assault. There's a strong Death Metal foundation to this track that may actually bring memories of the song "Brave New Hell" by Bloodbath to mind during the main openning verse before the song drops speed to tear into a blistering pace with that commanding authority again that will have you giving yourself whiplash as you violently go along with the song or look for someone to mosh with where you stand. While it's not quite as catchy as "Come and See My Sacrifice", the song "Lord of Thorns" is a strong, yet short track that has that has a similar intensity to it with a pretty strong guitar solo as well to back it up. On top of that you have the song "Decapitated Saints" which just hammers away at the listener with speed and brutality from start to finish, making for yet another short, yet very sweet creation.
It's hard to sit down and ramble off the best tracks from the album since almost all of them are great and will have your blood pounding. While the first three tracks are not that great, though "The Black Eye" does have a little more going for it that makes it enjoyable such as with intensity and speed, the album really seems to pick up with "Come and see My Sacrifice". Pretty much every song from this point on really shows the best from Vader, and the only one that doesn't really live up to the expectations of anything at this point is the song "I Had a Dream..." In the end the song is not bad and you will bob your head along to it, but it's just a slower track that doesn't really offer much to it, and in the end it just becomes a song that loses it's interest after a little while. There's also the brief interlude track "Thay Are Coming..." which sets up a good atmosphere without treading into Dimmu Borgir territory for the closing track "Black Velvet and Skulls of Steel", a somber track with a very commanding and authoritive atmopsphere to it. It's the kind of song you just want to stand up and stomp your foot to in rhythm with authority, or throw your fist in the air regardless of where you are, making it one of the most enjoyable tracks along side "Come and See My Sacrifice".
If you're a Vader fan, then the only reason you are probably reading this review is pure curiosity as, chances are, if you haven't grabbed this album illegally yet, or purchased it if you came upon this after it's release. Vader are one of those bands who seem to stick with the "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." mentality. The album is full of hard hitting powerhouses that greatly vary from one song to the next with only a few tracks that don't quite live up to the rest of the material on here, but even those songs are still solid performances that you will enjoy, though a little less the more you come across them. Blistering speed and slower commanding passages comprise Welcome to the Morbid Reich, and aside the audio quality, you'll eat it up if you're a fan of the band or this style, and keep coming back to it time and time again to be brutalized further. Does it even have to be said that this is an album you simply must make the time to experience?
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Digital review copy of this release provided by:
Nuclear Blast Records.
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