Love was not in the air on this Valentine’s Day. Nope. Instead, it was psychotic screams, blastbeats, shred guitar and a lot of headbanging, beer, and B.O. We assembled on a bitterly cold night in February to a fitting place. The Warsaw is the Home for Polish American’s in Brooklyn, set to welcome the 30-year and counting extreme metal legends, also from Poland, Vader. Vader is preparing a brand new album and recently released a new single, the brutal ‘Shock and Awe’ so lots of good fun was on tap. The Warsaw has actually become one of the better venues in Brooklyn with great beer, awesome bartenders, great event staff, Polish food (pierogies and more) and great sound and lights. We love coming here! The freezing cold night was no match for the sold-out show and a bunch of Brooklyn rowdy metal heshers and hesherettes.
Vitriol hits the stage first. They are one of the most impressive young bands right now. Super impressive and ranging from OSDM sounds to brutal, technical death metal that will make you disbelieve your eyes and ears. Definitely pick up their 2019 To Bathe from the Throat of Cowardice (Century Media). Next cam Hideous Divinity, who I was more excited to see again than any other band tonight. They were last here opening Behemoth, but now armed with their new album Simulacrum (Century Media), they made a lasting impact on the Brooklyn crowd. They were so good it was ridiculous and they couldn’t have been nicer in our pre-show interview.
I have followed Abysmal Dawn’s career from the beginning. After what I saw tonight, the current era of the band might be the best. The group is newly signed to Season of Mist for their next record Phylogenesis, drops on April 17th and it is a beast. The band just whipped the crow into a frenzy and besides, Vader, AD had the most fans in the house based on t-shirts, screams, and air guitar Jazz hands.
Earlier in the night I hung out on the nice warm tour bus with my photographer/videographer Jamie Sherwood and interview Peter. We rapped about the new album, the just-announced Solitude In Madness, due out this year via their longtime label Nuclear Blast. He was in great spirits and it was great to hear about his homeland, and 35 years worth of extreme metal wisdom.
Later on however, the congenial, well-mannered metal veteran turned int a savage on the microphone and the guitar. It’s not quite a Jeckyl and Hyde act as it is the frontman and his bandmates are professionals, and a well-oiled machine musically. Vader is one of the best live bands in the world. In addition to the new single, the band ripped through a long set of classics from their entire career. Fans were losing their shit, and the pit was solid. It was an amazing night of metal music, a perfectly matched bill, and a sick crowd. You can pre-order the new Vader album at this link.
WORDS BY KEITH CHACHKES
PHOTOS BY JAMIE SHERWOOD