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Vader Sets The Underworld Alight In London With Rise Of Kronos And Skaphos

The old saying goes, “How can I miss you if you won’t go away?” Now don’t panic, there’s no sign of quitting from Poland’s death metal kings Vader, but with the announcement that this would be their last UK show for at least two years, not a single fan in the British capital wanted to miss out on this. As is so often the case when a metal show comes to London, the setting was The Underworld in Camden and once more, it was packed on this occasion for what promised to be a show to remember.

Opening the show tonight was a band who were making their debut in London, all the way from Hamburg, we welcomed Rise Of Kronos, formerly known as Surface. As the name suggests, there’s certainly a strong influence from ancient Greece in their music, and to an extent, their presentation, with one member sporting facepaint akin to God Of War’s protagonist Kratos. Whether you’re a fan of this approach or not, it’s the music that makes a band and sure enough, Rise Of Kronos’ material is up to scratch.

They’re a good pick as support for Vader, being a death metal band with thrash elements and plenty of atmosphere, and even some elements to appeal to the younger death metal crowd. They also have an excellent stage presence and really endeared themselves to those who got to the gig on time tonight to see them with a mix of brutal music and a friendly demeanour, which just makes one want them to do well. The single, “Poison Of The Gods” sounded superb, as did the cuts from their latest album, “Imperium.” Rise Of Kronos were absolutely tremendous and I can’t recommend them enough to fans of all kinds of death metal.

Following a short break, it was time for the second support act tonight, Skaphos, who came here by way of Lyon, France. It’s an interesting time to catch the blackened death metal unit, as they’re preparing to unleash their all important third album, “Cult Of Uzura” on May 9th. Unfortunately, an outside factor let them down tonight, which is to say, the sound was absolutely atrocious. From the first song to the last, I could only hear the vocals and the bass drum, only catching a quiet glimpse of the guitars when the bass drum wasn’t being used, which was rare.

I actually tried to get the band’s attention to tell them about the problem, going so far as to translate “your guitars are really quiet” into French on my phone and holding it up, but to no avail. It may very well be a case of my position being the problem, as I noticed other people really enjoying their set. Sadly, I can’t honestly give feedback to music I could barely hear. Hopefully “Cult Of Uzura” does well and they’ll return, so that I can get a better idea of what they sound like. Definitely give their music a listen though because if you are looking for some new blackened death, they might be just what you want. They certainly delighted others in the crowd.

And so it came time for Vader to make their entrance. Vader has always fascinated me, being a death metal band formed behind the Iron Curtain and continuing for over forty years now under the guidance of frontman Piotr “Peter” Wiwczarek. The veterans have also recently given fans a taste of new music with the single, “Unbending,” their first serving of fresh material since the 2020 album, “Solitude In Madness,” which of course was performed tonight, along with “Shock And Awe” from said album. They have an extraordinary catalogue with a treasure chest of great songs to choose from, so naturally not every release will be represented in the setlist (although on a personal note, I was delighted to hear my favourite, “Triumph Of Death” from 2014’s, “Tibi Et Igni” album,) but Vader still dug deep and demonstrated what has made them one of, if not the top European death metal band.

The set kicked off with “Helleluyah (God Is Dead)” from the “Impressions In Blood” record and that set the tone perfectly for the show that was to come, as a double barreled blast from “De Profundis” followed in the forms of “Silent Empire” and “Sothis.” It was busier on stage than usual for Vader tonight, as they’re performing as a quintet on this trek with the return of former guitarist Mauser, meaning there were three guitars being played, giving the songs a more vicious tone than usual, which is quite an accomplishment. Of course, you can’t have a Vader show without “Dark Age” and they returned to their debut a few songs later with “Vicious Circle,” while “Black To The Blind” was also represented with two songs; namely the title track and “Carnal.”

From the moment they stepped on stage, Vader looked right at home and were clearly having a great time, as were the fans who were more than happy to mosh and charge across the floor in delight as the group ripped apart The Underworld with sonic devastation. One of the great things about London is that you’re guaranteed an international audience and it should come as no surprise that members of the Polish community were well accounted for here, enough that Wiwczarek frequently switched between English and Polish when addressing the crowd. It’s a cliche to call metal a brotherhood but any music that can bring together different languages, ethnicity, orientations and identities surely has the right to call itself that. Ultimately, the show closed with two songs from “The Art Of War,” those being “This Is The War” and “Lead Us!!!” which sent everyone home happy. It may be a while before Vader returns, but when they do, London will once again welcome them with open arms.

Ollie Hynes has been a writer for Metal Underground.com since 2007 and a metal fan since 2001, going as far as to travel to other countries and continents for metal gigs.