Showing posts with label music. Show all posts
Nothing is perfect, and therefore metal is not perfect. There are few bands that have managed to stay consistent and actually good over the years. Many of them use the formula that first worked and use it (and abuse it) over and over again. Some others sell out and some just die or disappear.
Vader is one of those bands that has a pretty solid discography. Many of us were wearing diapers when Vader placed Poland in the international death metal scene. And now it's been 22 years since The Ultimate Incantation saw the light for the very first time and it feels like Vader has just reborn.
Tibi et Igni is the name of the new monster that Vader has created. All the way from Go to Hell and up to The End, this album captures the essence of what Vader has been building since they formed way back in 1983. Aggressive riffs, demonic solos, and that charming voice of Peter. Really, Vader will never let you down. The normal edition has a little bit over 40 minutes of pure devastation.
When Vader released Welcome to the Morbid Reich in 2011 it marked not only a new album, but a whole new era for Vader. It was the moment when they got their intensity back and mixed it with some fresh blood. (Peter is almost 10 years older than the rest of the band and he's twice as old as the drummer, who is 24). Personally, I think Vader has not released a single album that can be labelled as bad. Not only in the death metal world but in the whole metal world Vader is an acclaimed and loved band. I mean, pretty much every single metalhead has heard of Vader.
One of my favorite tracks on the album is Hexenkessel. It contains everything you want from Vader: aggressive and catchy riff, strong and marked drum beat, thrash soloing and of course, evil lyrics. Ha! Tibi et Igni is now one of my favorite albums of this year.
This and the previous album had marked an era before and one after. Seriously.
Highlights: Go to Hell, Triumph of Death, Hexenkessel, Worms of Eden, The Eye of the Abyss.
Vader - Tibi et Igni (Review)
This year has been full of surprises. And one of the biggest was hearing that Arch Enemy's super duper famous vocalist, Angela Gossow, would be stepping down from vocals to leave room to... Alissa White-Gluz. Yes.The Agonist's vocalist.
That's a huge ass change! First of all, Alissa's not only known for her growls, but also for her clean singing. And besides, she's been selected as one of "the hottest chicks in metal" by Revolver Magazine. Anyway...
A couple of years ago, one of the Amott brothers (Christopher) also left the band (again) to be replaced with Nick Cordle (ex-Arsis). A couple of interesting changes in Arch Enemy's lineup there. And with big changes comes big responsibility...
And that's what War Eternal is all about. Change.
Let's face it. Arch Enemy has been a mediocre band ever since the Liiva era (which means, almost 15 years of mediocrity). No matter how much fame and fortune (and groupies) they gathered all those years, they still pretty much sucked. Fame and fortune (*ough cough* Metallica *cough cough*) doesn't mean at all that your music is good. And really, I don't really know why Arch Enemy is still a big thing.
Through the years they managed to make their music boring, and more boring, adding some lame ass lyrics and no attitude at all, reaching their limit with Khaos Legions. One of the most boring Melodic Death Metal albums ever. So maybe some fresh blood would have an impact on them. Who knows? Well, we all know now.
War Eternal is not what you would call anything fresh or new. If you listen carefully, you can hear pieces of Wages of Sin all over the place. And that's not something bad by itself. They just took a working formula (basically, replacing and old vocalist) and released a new album. Some people say Alissa sounds just like Angela, nut in my opinion that's a huge mistake. She's got the attitude and clearly, she writes better lyrics. Overall, music is more attractive and dynamic than before. Riffs are cool, though nothing epic worth remembering. You can still hear the influence of the new vocalist and the new guitarist.
My score? 6/10. It's got some nice moments. Not bad at all and i hope they continue down this path.
