Vader - Necropolis
Nuclear Blast
Death Metal
11 songs (40:44)
Release year: 2009
Vader, Nuclear Blast
Reviewed by Kyle
Major event

Vader is back! One of the most consistent and well-recognized bands in all of Death Metal has returned! In all honestly, their new album, Necropolis, kinda swept in under my radar. I originally got into them after hearing their The Art Of War EP sometime in 2007, a time when Vader was relatively quiet. They had released Impressions In Blood a year ago, and while the rest of the metal world decided to move onto newer albums, I quietly enjoyed IIB as an extremely brutal and efficient Death Metal release. Yet still, I as well eventually forgot about Vader and moved onto other things as well. So when the message goes out that the band has a new album available for review, I basically kicked myself for letting such an amazing band go unnoticed in the dark for so long. I immediately jumped at the chance to review Necropolis.

Upon first listen I was a bit discouraged. It’s not nearly as brutal as Impressions In Blood, as it doesn’t attempt to choke you to death with blast beats and hyper-speed tremolo guitar lines. But soon after (On only the second listen, in fact!), I found myself loving Necropolis; The music is less complex overall, but the thrash-influenced qualities of the riffs, mellower drums, and slower songs make for an extremely catchy Death Metal experience. Album opener Devilizer sets the tone of the record perfectly, with a crushing double-bass drive in the intro before breaking into a somewhat fast-paced guitar riff that alternates between palm muted chugs to power chords. Peter Wiwczarek’s vocals then come in, and they’re as strong as they’ve ever been, if not stronger; his style that finds the perfect balance between growling and roaring simply cannot be matched. The signature Vader guitar solo comes in, being very widdly and more cacophonic than melodic, simply being there to make the song all the more exciting. At the end, Devilizer is a very good and vaguely groove-oriented song that should definitely be a hit at live shows.

In my opinion, there are no weak songs on Necropolis. Whether it be the speedy Death Metal attacks of Rise Of The Undead, Blast, Anger, and We Are Horde, or the slower tracks that best show Vader’s talent for writing incredible, memorable riffs, like Never Say My Name, Dark Heart, Impure, and When The Sun Drowns In Dark, the band absolutely refuses to let up, kicking and screaming for your attention until your ears bleed. Even the two interludes, The Seal and Summoning The Futura, do much to progress Necropolis and make it a more interesting and compelling listen. Both of them feature some kind of ominous chanting, The Seal in particular being very unsettling. They make me wonder if Necropolis is a concept album of some kind, which I’ll have the answer to when I finish my e-interview with P. Wiwczarek.

So before I close this review, let me clarify a few things. Necropolis is not album of the year material. Ten years from now, it most likely won’t be highly praised in Vader’s discography. It’s not a groundbreaking Death Metal album, nor the band’s best work, nor original by any means. What Necropolis IS, however, is an extremely solid and entertaining record – This is, perhaps, the most fun Death Metal album of 2009. If you’re a fan of the band, or of no-frills, old-school Death Metal, you’d be doing no harm in at least giving this a try. I’ve listened to it countless times since receiving the promo, and most likely will continue to for some months to come. Maybe it’s a bit of a step backwards from Impressions In Blood, but if this is the direction Vader wants to go in, I have no problems with that whatsoever.

Killing Songs :
It's a Vader album.
Kyle quoted 82 / 100
Other albums by Vader that we have reviewed:
Vader - Solitude in Madness reviewed by Goat and quoted 80 / 100
Vader - The Empire reviewed by Goat and quoted 85 / 100
Vader - Tibi Et Igni reviewed by Jared and quoted 90 / 100
Vader - Welcome To The Morbid Reich reviewed by Goat and quoted 85 / 100
Vader - Litany reviewed by Tony and quoted CLASSIC
To see all 12 reviews click here
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