Vader are a Polish Death Metal/Thrash Metal Band formed in 1983, with good emphasis on the Thrash. Originally starting off simply as a harder thrash band before shifting towards the style that they play.
Members:
- Piotr "Peter" Wiwczarek – lead guitar, vocals (1983–present)
- Marek "Spider" Pająk – rhythm guitar (2010–present)
- Tomasz "Hal" Halicki – bass (2011–present)
- Michal Andrzejczyk - drums (2022-present)
Discography:
- The Ultimate Incantation (1992; re-recorded in 2017)
- De Profundis (1995)
- Black to the Blind (1997)
- Litany (2000)
- Revelations (2002)
- The Beast (2004)
- Impressions in Blood (2006)
- Necropolis (2009)
- Welcome to the Morbid Reich (2011)
- Tibi Et Igni (2014)
- The Empire (2016)
- Solitude in Madness (2020)
Tropes Related to Vader:
- Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking: They have Covered "Raining Blood" by Slayer, Extreme Noise Terror's "Raping the Earth", The Exploited's "Troops of Tomorrow" and... Depeche Mode's "I Feel You."
- Call-Back: The album Welcome to the Morbid Reich, to the Morbid Reich demo.
- Cover Album: The two Future of the Past albums.
- Death Metal: Along with Behemoth, Hate, and Decapitated, they are one of the flagship groups of the Polish scene, and they are easily the most enduring of them all.
- Epic Rocking: "Revelation of Black Moses", "The Eye of the Abyss".
- Genre-Busting: Death Metal and Thrash Metal molded into one.
- Harsh Vocals: Subverted, surprisingly, as Piotr Wiwczarek instead opts for a very clear throaty bellow with a noticeable accent (which is rare in death metal). This style was later popularized by several other vocalists (Nergal, Adam Buszko, and Adrian Kowanek) and has become known as the "Polish Growler" style.
- Heavy Mithril: They wrote and performed "Sword of the Witcher"
for the compilation album The Witcher: Music Inspired By the Game. - "I Am" Song: "I Am Who Feasts Upon Your Soul".
- I Am the Band: Peter has been the only founding member left since 1984 (one year after the band formed), and although he is not the only relatively constant member, his tenure has far outdone any other member's in length. The only other member to serve over 15 of the band's 40 years of existence is Doc (their third drummer and first drummer to appear on studio albums), who joined in 1988 and performed in the band until he died of heart failure in 2005.
- "I Hate" Song: "Litany" is a list of things the author hates about the person they are addressing the song to, as well as nasty things that he would like to do to them.
- Instrumentals: "Creation", "Red Dunes", "Between Day and Night", "Ultima Thule", "They Are Coming".
- Live Album: The Darkest Age, Live in Japan.
- Miniscule Rocking: "An Act of Darkness", "The Innermost Ambience", and "Forwards to Die!!!" are just a few examples. Black to the Blind and Solitude in Madness are full album examples, each clocking in at under 30 minutes and Litany just over that length.
- Motor Mouth: Peter's vocal delivery can get insanely fast at times, "Decapitated Saints" and "The Final Massacre" being the most prominent examples.
- Rearrange the Song: The band frequently re-records old material and puts it on new releases. They did that to the entire The Ultimate Incantation album for its 25th anniversary under the name Dark Age.
- Revolving Door Band: Especially in their early career. The went through over ten members before even recording an album. Though shades have remained since, as of the 2010's their lineup has become much more consistent.
- Shout-Out: The name is one to Darth Vader. The Empire is also a pretty obvious nod to the same franchise. "Silent Empire" is about Trystero from Thomas Pynchon's The Crying of Lot 49.
- Special Guest: Nergal delivers guest vocals on "Revelations", and he's just one of them in all of Vader history. Listing them all would be quite exhausting.
- Strictly Formula: While they have generally grown heavier and more technical over the years (particularly after Marek "Spider" Pajak joined and was able to provide more traditional shred riffs to contrast Peter's chaotic and primitive leads) and have been willing to embrace more modern conventions, Vader albums have stayed highly consistent. A Vader album will include a bunch of speedy death/thrash tracks, a few mid-paced tracks, maybe an oddball track or two, and maybe a bigger epic, but anyone who listens to a given release will know what to expect.
- Thrash Metal: A major component of their sound.
