Vader — Armageddon

An analogy has often been made between Vader's overall sound and how Slayer(Reign in Blood to Season in the Abyss era) would sound if they were adeath-metal band (and better, if I may say so). The band first saw the lightof day in 1986 and their "Morbid Reich" demo (1990) became a big hit in theunderground (quite a feat considering that they were, at the time, behindthe iron curtain in Poland). Later they signed to Earache and released theirfirst full length in 1993 and this was to be the first of about 10 albumsand EPs in the next ten years. They stayed active up to now, I think theyare currently recording a new album, and are well known for the amount oftouring they do (between 1995 and 1997, they averaged 1 show every 3 days).

Vader is a very consistent band and chances are if you liked anything fromany of their previous albums, you'll like everything present on thiscompilation. This disc is also recommended to anybody who has never heardthe band and want a good summary of their career up to now. I know I shouldrecommend individual albums, like De Profundis, since the band has beenpretty consistent over its 16 years career, but I also know that there aremany people out there who would think that one Vader CD would be enough fortheir needs. I see no problem in owning only this one since even though thesongs are from all their albums, they flow as well together as any of theband's albums. It seems that the older tracks were remastered as the soundquality and volume level are consistent from beginning to end except for thehorrible snare sound on the tracks taken from "Future of the Past".

Big fans of the band should take a look at the track listing since some ofthe songs present on Armageddon may come from EPs and MCDs that they havenot found anywhere else (yet).

1. Dark Age - 4:41 (The Ultimate Incantation)
2. The Wrath - 4:55 (Sothis)
3. Blood of Kingu - 4:40 (De Profundis)
4. Revolt - 3:37 (De Profundis)
5. Reborn in Flames - 5:41 (De Profundis)
6. An Act of Darkness - 1:59 (I.F.Y. mini CD)
7. Fear of Napalm - 2:47 (Future of the Past)
8. Dethroned Emperor - 4:07 (Future of the Past)
9. Carnal - 2:11 (Back to the Blind)
10. Foetus God - 2:45 (Back to the Blind)
11. Distant Dream - 2:27 (Back to the Blind)
12. Crucified Ones - 3:12 (The Darkest Age - live)
13. Omen/Intro - 2:07 (The Darkest Age - live)
14. Hell Awaits - 4:41 (The Darkest Age - live)
15. Creatures of Light and Darkness - 3:19 (Kingdom)
16. Breathe of Centuries - 4:32 (Kingdom)
17. Vicious Circle - 2:50 (Reborn in Chaos)
18. Red Passage - 2:50 (Live in Japan)
19. Black Sabbath - 6:20 (Live in Japan)
20. Wings - 3:09 (Litany)

This may sound blasphemous to hardcore Vader fans, but I think I'll listen to this disc more often than the band's official albums (if just for the fact that it's 70 minutes long and a little more varied than their albums - but on the other hand, I think that 70 minutes of Vader could be too much to take for some people).