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Damn, this is cool. Vader are Polish Death Metal personified. They're so iconic that they ought to have their own little subgenre – "Vader metal," or something. I haven't heard everything they've done yet, but what I have heard is nothing short of superb. Necropolis...is yet another album that continues this glorious trend.

Rock solid Death Metal with classic and Thrash influences blended in seamlessly? Check. Peter Wiwczeck's meaty bark adding just the right pinch of demonic savagery to the already devilish formula? Oh hell yeah. Necropolis is both a pure Vader album and a bit of a step in a new direction, with a bit less forward-charging vigor and more structure than is usual. It is not too much, as the band still sounds vicious as fuck, but there's definitely a more calculated feel to how this is put together, with a conceptual tie-in story and some interludes between songs. I think this could have been done better, but as it is, it's acceptable – the interludes build up tension, although they themselves could be a little bit better and more interesting. The charging "Devilizer" is a much thrashier, more classic metal-infused romp than I've heard from them before, and it fucking rules, and similar ass-stompers include "Rise of the Undead," "Dark Heart" and the monolithic doom majesty of "When the Sun Drowns in Dark." Not every song is quite up to this standard, but even the weaker ones are a lot of fun, and add to the slayage.

Bands like this are just the best – they're consistent enough to where one is never truly disappointed in them. They are so dedicated to their craft of book-burning and dancing around fires and sacrificing virgins to Cthulhu in their brand of vicious metallic misery that you would think they would eventually get bored with it, but they don't! They are reliable, but also energetic, making every release sound like it just might be their last, never resting on their laurels. Vader's Necropolis is a supreme entry into the band's grimoire of visceral intensity, and if you haven't heard it yet, what are you waiting for?