VADER Frontman Discusses Forthcoming Album

Polish death metal veterans VADER have set "Return To The Morbid Reich" as the tentative title of their next studio album. According to guitarist/vocalist Piotr "Peter" Wiwczarek, the CD will be recorded in March/April 2011 at Hertz Studio in Bialystok, Poland and it will be released in August/September 2011 via Nuclear Blast Records.

A short question-and-answer session with Wiwczarek regarding the forthcoming album follows below.

Q: What do you mean by changes in the band's image which you mentioned on one of discussion sites?

Piotr: By image I mean the way the band is promoted, together with the new album, photo session, image itself and type of stage design. Suffice to mention photo sessions to "Black To The Blind" or "Impressions"… Of course I didn't mean any changes in hairstyle or dressing up in very popular lately leather armor. VADER doesn't need to take such steps. We will make the band's death metal nature more visible, though. I don't want to get into details too early. Recording session is planned not until March/April... but it's worth visiting our website during this period. Plenty of news will appear then and we will reveal a few details about the content of the newest album.

Q: Is a draft title of the newest album indicating a comeback to the classic "Morbid Reich" sounds or is it just an initial idea?

Piotr: It's impossible and useless to record the same album once again. I'm sure that even if we recorded a second "Morbid Reich" or previously mentioned "De Profundis", the album wouldn't get similar feedback. Times have changed, people have changed and metal has changed itself. What can be done is to try to capture the feeling of those days just to remind the roots of the band. I don't intend to revive "Morbid Reich" after 20 years. Today nobody — including me — would receive this material as at the beginning of the '90s. Moreover, how could I go back in the guitar playing techniques or forget about my rich musical experience? "Return To Morbid Reich" will be my attempt to revive the gloom of those days accompanying the creation of music and expressionist aesthetics of the 30s. The outcome? I'm curious myself. The difference would be the time devoted to the album even before entering the studio. I'll try to return to the way of working on music from before the times of "The Ultimate..." I also hope to create something together with Marek [Pajak, guitar] and Pawel [Jaroszewicz, drums].

Q: How do you assess the new band lineup? How is Marek Pajak doing? Is there any chance that he will stay there for some time?

Piotr: This decision belongs not only to me but to Marek himself as well. We're getting on really good and after a decent number of gigs played together we both know what the work in VADER looks like. I believe that we'll record more albums together. So far Pajak has confirmed that working with a professionalist and realist is a real pleasure.

Q: The idea of playing the whole album "De Profundis" is wonderful. Will you repeat it during upcoming gigs over in the USA too?

Piotr: The idea had several sources. Over a year ago Wacek came up with idea of playing "De Profundis" at concerts. However it seemed a bit inflated idea to me. A few weeks ago, however, I had an interview during which it got mentioned that it had been 15 years since the album release. Performing "legendary" albums as a whole during gigs has already been practiced by SLAYER, JUDAS PRIEST and METALLICA... so why not VADER? It's not only a classic in our discography but also an important album in the history of Polish metal (I say it not out of pure vanity; it's our fans' opinion). What's more, it will be a great diversification to the whole concert set. If it'll work out — we'll return to other albums in the future. A premiere would be the August tour across Poland. We're going to carry it on over to the USA during the tour with IMMOLATION. Not to mention the fact that the American division of Nuclear Blast particularly liked the whole idea. I wonder myself how the album will sound after so many years... and what will be the feedback of our maniacs.