Reviewed - 10/05/04

The Beast
[Metal Blade Records]

Vader is Poland's powerhouse of whirling, crunchy, precise death metal. Perhaps they are one of the few bands in metal that has never tinkered with their sound. Their albums rarely veer from the beaten path and "The Beast" is no exception.

Yet, this is Vader sounding a tad uninspired. Even with fresh blood in the mix, Vader seems to have their tracks spinning in the mud. "The Beast" features Novy (ex-Behemoth) on bass and skin man Daray, filling in for the side-lined Doc. While Daray a worthy temporary replacement for Doc, his drumming doesn’t hit as hard. And with the addition of Novy to the group, I was expecting to hear more of his trademark slap-bass. However, Novy is buried in the mix, just as he was in Behemoth.

Minor complaining aside, tracks like “Out of the Deep,” “Dark Transmission,” and “The Zone” are standard issue Vader. “Firebringer” is one of the most ferocious tracks on the disc, one that features one of Mauser’s best solos to date. There are two standout tracks on “The Beast.” “The Sea Came In At Last” features Vader experimenting with clean vocals and picking, fused with the best performance on the album. Second, “Choices” seems to start out as a Vader ballad then march into a decent death crunch. While its inclusion seems somewhat out of place, it also is a brilliantly crafted piece, showing that Vader can do more than simply liquefy ear drums.

While “The Sea Came In At Last” and “Choices” are peculiar Vader tracks, and “Firebringer” will be a mosh pit pleaser, the rest of “The Beast” fails to really live up to the standards set by “De Profundis” and “Litany.”

“The Beast” isn’t bad, nor is it a “must have” release. It ranks up there as a good release from a band that has always put out decent material. Let’s just hope that the next Vader album packs more of a wallop than “The Beast.”