Vader - Whelan's 4/3/10

It’s a night of no frills metal brutality here – straight to the point, straight for the jugular. British act Divine Chaos commences proceedings with their angular riff driven metal, all replete with some massive old school thrash influences. There’s a heady dosage of ambition in their delivery, with 'Path To War' being a particular highlight.

As You Drown then bring the beatdown. Despite some of the crowd not becoming too enamoured by them, the Swedes are tighter than a nun. With having only one album, debut Reflection to work from, their set is an impressive one.

Final support act comes in the shape of Dublin’s own death metal outfit Warpath, who punish with their bludgeoning onslaught. Their set is comprised of solid new tracks from their forthcoming new record which all meld well with older tunes from Gorefare.

But when Vader’s Peter Wiwczarek walks out on stage, Whelan’s truly comes alight, as the floor in front of the stage crams full and becomes a battlefield. The Poles, with zero reluctance, tear into a visceral set of their seasoned death metal.

Their death classics, like 'Dark Age' (from 1993’s The Ultimate Incantation) still retain that biting ferocity of their conception. But simultaneously, they’ve morphed into stronger entities as airings from last year’s Necropolis give them a good run for their money.

While Peter Wiwczarek is the centre piece of Vader, drummer Paul Jaroszewcz though becomes a glorious shining light out of the set delivering ruthless blast beat after ruthless blast beat. It’s made one guarantee for the night – all heads are banging. Vader are loud and brutal, there’s no give in their hour long set as they do exactly as it says on their proverbial tin, and that’s playing some fucking death metal.

8/10

*Photo by Daniel Hurley