Review Summary: Solitude in Madness is, as usual, nothing new stylistically for Vader, but is probably the tightest album they have ever released.
Vader can't ever really be described as changing their style in the way other bands do, but it's fair to say that there were similarities from Welcome to the Morbid Reich and the two following albums that the rest of their discography didn't have. Most notably, the songwriting styles were more varied, with some "centrepiece" tracks with a lot more dynamics in tempo and usually a more epic feel with sweeping leads and occasional orchestration. With the last album,
The Empire, Vader seemed to have dried up their good ideas for tracks like that, and was generally a bit more lumpen. Solitude in Madness isn't a big shift in sound, but sees the band opt for shorter songs with a greater emphasis on their old-school thrash and NWOBHM influences. Not especially risky, but fun, rewarding, and nothing the band hasn't tried before.
Compared to other Vader albums, there are far more tracks sitting below the 3 minute mark, with only 4 of the 11 tracks clocking above that and none of them exceeding 4 minutes in length. Whilst this doesn't lead to there being any bigger melodic tracks like
The Eye of the Abyss from
Tibi et Igni, this album is extremely digestible and pretty easy on the ears. Aiding this is the pretty good production job, with a crisp, aggressive sound in comparison to their preceding efforts. The guitar leads are also a lot cleaner and have more of a classic shred vibe, which helps add some polish and style; the solos are also much more frequent on this album, probably due to the shorter songs usually fitting at least one in.
Additionally, Vader's tracklist is pretty well balanced in terms of sound this time. After 3 cut-and-dry thrashers (all very short in length) they wisely introduce their more mid-paced tracks in a group fairly early in the album. Mid-course cut
Emptiness smartly integrates more of their NWOBHM elements and leads into more thrashy tracks, before closing with the longest track on the album. In terms of track positioning it feels very well organized to maximize engagement and leave as few dead spots as possible. Combined with the short length, this album never drags at all.
Probably the biggest issue is the same one as always for Vader; you get exactly what you expect without any extra spice. There aren't any especially noteworthy passages that rise above the usual good quality thrashy death metal, bar perhaps the especially groovy
Incineration of the Gods. There are fewer weak spots on the album than prior efforts, but the absence of the more ambitious tracks from prior efforts leaves it feeling unmemorable. Also, despite the band incorporating a decent range of their influences, this time around the explicitly NWOBHM elements, whilst welcome for changing the pace, are not as well executed and don't feel as well incorporated into their sound, with transitions in and out feeling a bit basic and clumsy.
Still, Vader does Vader, and it's fun this time around. The short length, combined with a more energetic mix and some classier guitar leads, results in a very easy listen with no dead spots. Whilst the repetitive nature of this band sometimes gets criticised, no one can seriously complain when the results are as tight and to the point as this.
