review by: Roberto Martinelli

Vader haven't been able to write an album that tops 33 minutes since their full-length debut in 1992. According to a fellow journalist, they barely had enough to go with to put out their quite short last album, Litany. Things seem to be getting worse.

While there are 10 tracks on Vader's latest release, Reign Forever World, you have a hard time considering it a new album. It's more like a 34-minute EP. Consider this: the first three songs are new. The next three are covers. Tracks 7-8 are live cuts. The final two tracks are conditionally new, assuming you didn't get the Japanese release of Litany, which already included those tracks.

So now, for the in-depth review: The new songs are nothing that will displease manic Vader fans. Still, they aren't "A" material. Sure, Vader devotees like myself will bounce up and down in excitement by merely having something new by this essential death metal band, and while the material is certainly good, it is in a class far below classics such as "Silent Empire," "Sothis," (oh, shit, why not just include the whole second album while we're at it), or Litany tracks like "Forwards to Die!" and "The One Made of Dreams."

The new tracks are a definite progression from what the band presented on Litany. Of course, "progression" is a term used relative to what Vader does, being simple, steamrolling death, with an oh-so unique flavor. The artificially pumped up drum sound that was especially present on Litany is still just as big here, but it sounds slightly tweaked, no longer sounding like the bass drums wandered in off a techno mix board.

While the riffs are still very Vader, and the vocals are stronger than ever, the songs have a more smooth, flowing feeling to them. Why? No more blast beats. Hmm. A bit strange by Vader standards, but when you hear the album, there's no chance you won't recognize the band.

The first cover is a very popular one, being Destruction's "Total Desaster." Vader pull it off well, having better chops than Destruction did at the time, but possessing much less of the original's character. Judas Priest's "Rapid Fire" is next. It's at this point that Vader's covering starts to wear thin, kind of the way Metallica's does on the God awful Garage album: the covers are all played with the same approach and tones as the original songs by the covering band are. The result ends up being pretty monotonous. Lastly is Mayhem's "Freezing Moon".

The two live tracks, "Breath of Centuries" and live favorite "Carnal," are totally what you would expect from this band, based on the sublime quality of their Live in Japan album. Finally, the windy and electronic ambient track "Red Dunes" precedes "Lord of the Desert," which really fits in nicely to the sound of the Litany album.

Vader fans should not hesitate to get Reign Forever World. Others are highly advised to start with the indispensable De Profundis.