VADER - Solitude In Madness

Release date May 1/20 (Nuclear Blast)

Vader has been not-so-quietly making a name in the extreme underground by consistently issuing well-crafted records over its 30+ year existence. Their calling card is the ability to marry death metal heft with the visceral speed of thrash, topped off by the guttural vocal admonishments of leader/guitarist Peter. Incredibly now onto full length album #16, Solitude In Madness finds the Polish mob showing no signs of weakening its stance despite father time moving them into their fifties.

In fact, I'd say that Solitude In Madness will likely end up being considered as one of the top five of the band's discography once we've had time to let this settle in. This sidles up to 97's Back To The Blind and 00's Litany, sharing the same extra focus on speed, making this one of those special "blows-back-your-hair" experiences that death/thrashers can't get enough of.

Smartly kept to a short 30 minutes, all the fat has been trimmed here, leaving us with only prime meat on the bones. So, pointing out highlights is pretty difficult given the consistency of this thing, but the back half really stands out. The ready-for-headbanging 'Emptiness" and outright thrashers "Final Declaration", "Dancing In The Slaughterhouse" and "Stigma Of Divinity" successfully put a fork in ya, ensuring that you're left shaking your head at the intensity of it all.

Hail Vader!

(8.5)