Review by Ben for Vader - De Profundis (1995)
Vader's best album with numerous classic tracks. This is pure, exciting death metal from a legendary band.
Vader's De Profundis album is generally considered their best work and I'm not going to disagree. While the band have been very consistent throughout their lengthy career, they haven't released an album that surpasses this one when it comes to sheer excitement and entertainment. The Vader style hasn't changed all that much since to be honest, but their production has become clinical and precise to the point where it lacks a little of the raw venom that death metal thrives on. De Profundis has a far more organic sound and a greater level of urgency than albums such as Litany or Impressions in Blood, no matter how technically fantastic those releases are. Every aspect of this album is exactly how it should be on a successful, brutal death metal album and therefore marks the highlight of their discography.
A highlight on all Vader releases prior to 2005 must be Doc's drumming. Just as Dave Lombardo manages with Slayer, Doc always had an incredible ability to get the absolute most out of his drumkit. There was never a stage where he was just backing up the rest of the band. His double bass kicking, blast beats and fills are all first rate and immensely powerful, without ever becoming overbearing. His death was a huge loss to both the band and metal in general. The riffs throughout the album are fantastic and remind me of the more shredding side of Morbid Angel with just a touch of thrash. They keep the velocity high and crank riff after riff at the listener while never breaking the momentum. Peter's vocals have always been up there with my favourite in the genre. His always distinguishable yet ever aggressive style is damn perfect for creating memorable and brutal death metal.
It's hard to criticise the album for a lack of variety when it only has a running time of 34 minutes and contains so many mosh-worthy sections. Tracks such as Silent Empire, Blood of Kingu, Sothis and Reborn in Flames are right up there with the best the band have ever produced and none of the remaining pieces are any less intense or worthy of getting excited about. De Profundis deserves its reputation as one of the better death metal albums of its time and Vader's peak performance.