While metal is experiencing a revival in America, it has
\noccasionally surprised me to find out some of the countries that
\nare enjoying a good self-inflicted headbanging concussion. With no
\ndisrespect intended, I never would have thought that Japan was a
\ncountry big into heavy metal and thrash, but
\nLive In Japan<\/i>, the latest release from Polish death metal
\nband Vader, showed me otherwise.<\/p>\n
While the overall quality of their performance (recorded in
\nAugust of last year) is quite good, Vader does show that grindcore
\ncan seem to get old quickly, even if the material is otherwise
\nsound. Especially for someone who is first discovering this band
\n(and I include myself in that category),
\nLive In Japan<\/i> can be an overwhelming listen, as one tries to
\ntake in everything new at once.<\/p>\n
The group – vocalist\/guitarist Peter, guitarist Mauser, bassist
\nShambo and drummer Doc (sometimes I really wish these people would
\nuse their last names), Vader plows through a decent number of
\ntracks, including a few “intros” and two surprising cover choices.
\nIf you’ve followed the band since their debut release
\nMorbid Reich<\/i> in 1990, then this collection is undoubtedly a
\ndream come true.<\/p>\n
But newcomers will find this a lot to digest in one sitting, and
\nwhile tracks like “Black To The Blind”, “Carnal” and “Reborn In
\nFlames” do impress, after a while, I found myself becoming mentally
\nexhausted listening to “new” track after “new” track. While
\nLive In Japan<\/i> did serve its purpose by raising my interest
\nin Vader, baptism by blood is not the best way to discover the band
\n(though I think they’d find something funny in this
\ncomparison).<\/p>\n
The overall sound of this album is impressive, and the work of
\nDoc behind the skins is quite impressive. There are times I am
\nsurprised that he’s playing some of the fills he is; I never
\nthought the drums could be played that fast without losing clarity
\nor intensity.<\/p>\n
There are two big surprises on
\nLive In Japan<\/i>. First, the band chooses “Black Sabbath” (from
\na band whose name, aah, escapes me) and Slayer’s “Reign In Blood”
\n(that’s how the song is listed on the CD; I know the title is
\n“Raining Blood”) as cover tunes, and they do a surprisingly good
\njob on these tracks. The second shock is the reaction of the
\naudience when the show ends. Admittedly, it seems like an abrupt
\nending after “Dark Age,” but the crowd actually sounds
\nangry<\/i> that the show is over.<\/p>\n
While death metal is often criticized as being violent or
\nanti-religious in its lyrics, Vader’s lyrics aren’t always the
\neasiest to decipher in the musical onslaught. Tracks like “Foetus
\nGod” and “Crucified Ones” might fit those patterns – but without a
\nlyric sheet, I’m not going to just lump Vader into that
\nstereotype.<\/p>\n
Death metal – and grindcore, especially – is not only an
\nacquired taste, but whether one will like a specific band is very
\nsubjective. I won’t go out on a limb and say that
\nLive In Japan<\/i> will satiate the appetites of all death metal
\nfans, but it’s sure to provide some level of enjoyment to fans of
\nthe genre. However, I’d hesitate to suggest checking this one out
\nif you’ve never heard Vader’s music before. Rather, I’d tell you to
\npick up at least one of their studio albums, get comfortable with
\nthat disc, and
\nthen<\/i> pick up
\nLive In Japan<\/i>. Something tells me you’ll appreciate it more
\nthat way.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":27595,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"artist":[6486],"rating":[5612],"class_list":["post-38970","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-vader","rating-rating-b-minus"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/38970","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38970"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/38970\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/27595"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38970"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=38970"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=38970"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}