Review: Vader – Humanihility

May 16, 2025

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Vader have always thrived in short bursts of energy. The Art Of War EP from 2005 and the original Necrolust demo condensed different eras of the band’s sound into brisk but blistering records that are massive highlights in their discography. Even their most recent full-length Solitude In Madness, another solid record from the band, came in just shy of 30 minutes. I would never consider that an inherently bad thing, though. Like a lot of extreme music, death metal can overstay its welcome—diluting its power and suppressing its punch—especially if done in one style over the course of an hour. You love Autopsy, but aren’t eager for two hours of Shitfun. So to speak.

Humanihility is a little different to those aforementioned records though. It’s a three-track EP set to be performed at and released alongside their current March Of The Unbending tour, and doesn’t read as anything but supplemental to their last full-length record Solitude In Madness. It’s not a release with a distinct sound of its own, and that was obviously not the intention; more than anything it’s an EP for Vader fans.

Unlike other bands, I think Vader’s consistency has only been a benefit to them. While the current meta of death metal leans progressive and broad in its influences, the old school, thrash-influenced sound of Vader is welcome—one anchored in a sense of honest expression and craft, as opposed to the relative insincerity of the revivalist.

“Genocide Designed” is the introduction to the EP, and it’s a track that makes clear the continuation from Solitude In Madness. It’s archetypal Vader: loads of open tremolo-picking, a heavy thrash influence in its drumming, flashy soloing and a barked vocal style from Peter that’s more discernible and, relatively, eloquent (in comparison to most death metal) without losing its bite. “Genocide Designed” isn’t the most lightning track from Vader but it’s a solid slab of death metal, illustrating with the band’s flair for composition through a combination of the rigidity of their riffs and the looseness of their percussion.

“Rampage” is suitably titled, with an immediate gunshot start that doesn’t let up until a little cymbal fill at the 45 second mark. The deliberate lack of dynamism, opting instead for a frontal aural assault, is hampered by both the relative flatness of the production by Scott Atkins and the fact that Vader is a band over 40 years old. Vader were once a prescient band but time has dulled their extremity, and a track like “Rampage,” with its relative gloss and its context within extreme metal, just doesn’t hit as hard as intended. This isn’t the fault of Vader, and doesn’t spell doom for the track, but it’s just something that’s always ticking away in the back of my mind when listening to older extreme bands, where this attempt at full aural assault feels muted, overtaken by more tuned-in artists. In isolation, though, “Rampage” is pretty decent.

Shifting gears totally, “Unbending” is a mid-tempo track focusing on menacing riffs accented with pinch harmonics, alongside a drumming performance that feels militant and stern. It’s easily the most unique on the tracklist, with a more affected vocal style. Not all death metal bands pull this sort of song off well; it’s the type of track that can risk feeling pedestrian at times but the tension of the main riff keeps pulling me back in. Even the muted, chugging riffs of its verses manage to retain a sense of that tension, with some syncopated switch-ups in its rhythm and muting patterns; it feels like a song begging for release, and doesn’t so much explode as it does soar near the end with these cascading, shrill high notes that fade out to silence, feeling decidedly unfinished but I suppose fitting for an EP of this sort.

As short as Humanihility is, it shows most of all that there’s life in Vader yet; half a decade from their last full-length, it wouldn’t have been surprising for Vader to retire from studio material and continue as festival staples for the rest of their career, their status and influence established. It’s not the most substantial of EPs, and it lacks a real viciousness a lot of the time, but for Vader fans it’s another solid chunk of death metal.