Vader

• Genre: Rock
• Active: '90s, 2000s
• Major Members: Daray, Mauser, Piotr Wiwczarek, Novy, Doc ?

Biography

Vader formed in 1986, toiling around the European death and thrash circuit while releasing demos into the metal tape-trading circuit. Their 1990 demo Morbid Reich became a huge hit in the underground, leading to a record deal with Earache in 1992. This made them the first death metal band from behind the Iron Curtain to sign a record deal outside of their native Poland. The same year, they released The Ultimate Incantation, a large success in the metal underground. They toured with Bolt Thrower, Grave, Deicide, and many other bands to bring their live performances to American audiences. They left Earache the next year and released two more albums, Sothis (on Repulse Records) and The Darkest Age: Live '93 (on Baron Records). They tried to continue touring despite the declining popularity of death metal and the lack of a consistent recording contract. In 1995, they signed a deal with Impact Records, allowing them to maintain a regular album release schedule. Hammerheart Records released their Necrolust and Morbid Reich demos on CD in 1998, as the band was enjoying their biggest success up to that point with the archival release Reborn in Chaos. They also recorded a live album that year, a mini-album (Kingdom), a VHS video, and signed a new record deal with Metal Blade. By the time 1999 rolled around, the band was opening for Slayer and had their first headlining American tour. They released Litany in 2000 and Reign Forever World in 2001, both on Metal Blade, and continued their grueling touring schedule. Revelations arrived in 2002, followed by Beast in 2004, and Impressions in Blood in 2006. ~ Bradley Torreano, All Music Guide

Vader is a Polish death metal band founded in 1986.^[1] It stands as one of the best-known European death metal bands. Vader plays a style of death metal different from that of their American counterparts, but their approach is nonetheless firmly based upon the template created by Death. For example, many bands of this genre tend to play guitar solos and lead parts which do not adhere strictly to traditional musical principles (such as being in key) and make extensive use of tremolo bar, creating a rather dissonant sound. Vader, on the other hand, whilst often playing in this style, occasionally diverge and play diminished, augmented, and minor scale solos. Vader is also different in that vocalist Piotr Wiwczarek's vocals do not follow the standard sound widely considered acceptable for death metal. While his vocal delivery remains extreme, it is a much throatier approach, giving him the ability to enunciate words more clearly than most death metal vocalists.

The name of the band was inspired by Darth Vader, a Star Wars character.^[2]

Biography

Forming in 1986, Vader released the demo Morbid Reich in 1990, remarkable not only for the quality of the demo given the equipment available behind the Iron Curtain, but also that the demo sold 10,000 copies, easily the most successful death metal demo of all time. The songs from Morbid Reich would appear later on their full-length debut album in 1993 entitled The Ultimate Incantation on Earache Records. In 1998, they signed a contract to Metal Blade Records. Fans consider this event a victory of "pure" death metal over new styles that formed in the 90s, like rap metal and grunge metal. They also prize the band for not giving up their extreme style in favour of a more mainstream one that would probably sell more records. Vader is very active in releasing live tracks and full live albums.
Band members :

• Piotr "Peter" Wiwczarek - guitar, vocals
• Maurycy "Mauser" Stefanowicz - guitar
• Marcin "Novy" Nowak - bass guitar
• Dariusz "Daray" Brzozowski - drums