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I only got this a few weeks ago, and I remember reading a lot of negative comments about it when it came out. For the life of me, I can't see why, except maybe for the fact that this release sounds a lot like their previous albums. That can be either a good or a bad thing. As far as Vader is concerned, I consider this to be a good thing - these guys have been kicking ass for several years and I don't get tired of their signature sound, which is almost intact here. That's right: Overall, there isn't much change in sound, but this release sees more sounds borrowed from thrash and "traditional" heavy metal than in their previous work. Vader plays death metal the way I like it: Not a full-speed double-bass noise fest, but rather more diversified material with lots of tempo changes, actual melodies (if there's such a thing a melodic death metal, this is the real thing, along with the likes of The Chasm - it IS death metal), vocals (growls) that do the trick without sounding like a pukefest, and solos that don't just sound like a bunch of notes played fast with no direction. The end result is a morbid atmosphere with the occasional upbeat moments. When you finish listening to this, there is something left for you to digest and you can't resist the urge to play it over and over.

Fans of Vader should like this alright. The changes to the sound are all rooted in classic metal, so there's no shitty gimmicks here just for the sake of sounding interesting. The only downside of this album is that those who didn't like the band in the first place can keep looking elsewhere, this one most likely won't win them a great many new fans.