Nightfly You can always rely on Vader to deliver the goods and studio album number eleven, The Empire, is no exception. Vader don’t make bad albums. Sure, some are better than others – De Profundis and Welcome To The Morbid Reich being particular high points for me. Equally though, you don’t get any surprises, Vader adopting the if it ain’t broke don’t fix it approach. I’ve no problem with that if they continue to release albums as good as this.

Anyone who knows Vader will know what to expect here - old school death metal with a dose of thrash thrown in. What sets the better Vader albums apart is the quality of the riffs and The Empire has them in spades. The album is paced well from faster blast beat to more mid-tempo material, sometimes in the same song which to my ears is far more appealing and engaging than relentless blast beats from start to finish although they are obligatory to a point. Angels Of Steel is a killer opener which packs a lot into its slightly over two minutes length. From then on things remain on a high with not a weak song in sight which is just as well as the albums over in thirty three minutes. Best of the bunch? Prayer To The God Of War and The Army-Geddon both have a compelling groove, Feel My Pain and the aforementioned opener are other highlights but there’s not much in it to be honest.

The icing on the cake is the fantastic production job which is powerful and clear without being clinical allowing everyone to be heard and of course the playing is solid as a rock. The Empire may not be my favourite Vader album but I’d put it in their top five. My only complaint is the short length, especially as Parabellum and Prayer To the God Of War have already appeared on the Iron Times E.P. released earlier this year. Nevertheless, essential listening to anyone who’s ever enjoyed the band.