Vader

Biography :

Vader is a Polish death metal band from Olsztyn, formed in 1983. According to Piotr Wiwczarek, the band's founding singer and guitar player, the band's name was inspired by Darth Vader from the Star Wars film series. Lyrical themes include stories by H. P. Lovecraft. According to Billboard magazine, from 2003 Vader sold over 500,000 releases around the world.


History :

Having recorded two demos already, Vader garnered international attention when they released their third demo, Morbid Reich, in 1990, selling nearly 10,000 copies. This success earned the group a contract with Earache Records. The songs from Morbid Reich would appear later on their full-length debut album in 1993, The Ultimate Incantation.

Due to communication breakdowns, the contract with Earache was terminated and the 1994 release of Sothis and The Darkest Age: Live '93 had to be released on different labels. In the meantime, they toured relentlessly and in 1995, they signed a contract with Impact Records and released De Profundis, Future of the Past, and Black to the Blind. Then, Hammerheart Records re-released two early demos, Necrolust and Morbid Reich, as the Reborn in Chaos. In August 1998, Vader released Live in Japan. Before it came out in December, they also recorded the Kingdom EP and a VHS video entitled Vision and Voice. In October of that year, Vader opened for Slayer during a show in Poland.

At the end of 1998, they signed a contract to Metal Blade Records for the release of their sixth album, Litany. 1999 was spent mostly on tour. In March 1999, Vader embarked on their first headlining U.S. tour, the International Extreme Music Festival 1999, and in May of that same year, they played at Metalmania. In June, they went on another European tour, and the rest of the summer was filled with numerous appearances at festivals in Central Europe. The season concluded in a European tour with thrash metal band Testament.

In November and December 1999, the band recorded the album Litany, which was set for release in March 2000, and recorded a music video for the song "Cold Demons," which appeared on a special-edition digipack. The release of the album was also backed up by live shows, including April's No Mercy Festival 2000 , and in June, the band embarked on a 30-date European tour with Vital Remains, Fleshcrawl, and The Crown.

In April 2001, Vader released the EP Reign Forever World, featuring re-recorded songs, cover songs, and live tracks. They promoted the album intensively—in Poland, Russia and the Ukraine, and again in the U.S. In September 2001, they did another European tour with Cryptopsy, Dying Fetus, Catastrophic, and several other bands. This was followed by 10 Polish appearances as part of the Thrash'em All Festival 2001 along with Krisiun, Behemoth and several Polish death metal and black metal bands.

In 2002, Vader released Revelations, and toured England, Scotland, and Ireland during the No Mercy Festival's dates. In May, the band released their first DVD, More Vision and the Voice. In 2004, the band started recording The Beast (which was finished in mid-July) along with an extensive promotional campaign including over 170 gigs. Recording sessions for their new album were postponed in May due to an accident which injured the drummer, Doc. He was replaced with Daray from the Polish band Vesania. The supporting Europe-wide tour saw the band's first trip to the Balkans. The most important gig of 2004 was at the Silesian Stadium in Chorzów, where the band opened for Metallica in front of 50,000 people.

In March 2005, their drummer, Doc, left the band due to apparent drug problems. In August 2005, it was announced that Doc had died.

In 2008, Novy decided to leave Vader after five years; Marcin Rygiel (ex-Decapitated) replaced him on bass for the U.S. Summer Slaughter Tour 2008. Reyash would join as a permanent bassist later in the year.

In 2009, a sneak preview of their song "Rise of the Undead" from the album Necropolis was added to their official website for listening. A quote from their official website was posted about their upcoming album Necropolis:

"Vader to begin recordings for "Necropolis"! In the middle of March Vader will enter Hertz Studio in Bialystok, Poland to begin recording session of band's next studio album entitled "Necropolis". All the tracks will be recorded at Hertz and engineered by Wieslawski Bros. Tue Madsen (who previously worked with such bands as Moonspell, Cataract, Heaven Shall Burn and many more...) will mix the album at his famous Antfarm Studios in Denmark. "Necropolis" will be the first album recorded in Vader's new line up featuring band's new musicians Paul (drums), Reyash (bass) and Vogg (guitars). Famous Polish artist Jacek Wisniewski (who made cover arts for such albums as "Black To The Blind", "Revelations", "The Beast" and some more...) will take care of the album artwork and its whole layout. One of the songs recorded during the latest pre-production session at Haertz Studio is available for download directly from our MP3 section. Band's leader Peter stated about new ideas and plans: Welcome again, Brothers and Sisters!!! One of the brand new Vader songs recorded in December at Hertz Studios is available on our Site... It's called "Rise of the Undead"!!! We are back to the Underworlds, Dark Spheres and Forgotten Eons. Kind of the Anthem to the undead ideas of Dimensions which exist Here and Beyond. This is gonna be also a teaser of our upcoming creation "Necropolis" - Vader's new album. Recordings starts in the middle of March and we'll stay in the studio for about four weeks. Then we'll move to AntFarm Studios in Denmark to transform all tracks into some kind of venomous incantations. Of course- we will keep You updated about the progress of recordings with words and video reports. Before the work is done there will be another new song available on www.vader.pl...."Impure"!!! And from May: MORE SHOWS ARE COMING!!!!!"


In Popular Culture :

American rock band's Eagles of Death Metal name was influenced by Vader. When a friend was trying to introduce Queens of the Stone Age frontman Josh Homme to death metal genre, he played Vader's music. Homme called them "The Eagles of death metal." After hearing this phrase, he wondered what a cross between the Eagles and a death metal band would sound like. Afterwards, the phrase became the name of his band.


Band Members :

Current Members :

* Piotr "Peter" Wiwczarek – Guitar, Vocals (1983–present)
* Marek "Spider" Pajak – Guitar (2010–present)
* Pawel "Paul" Jaroszewicz – Drums (2008–present)
* Tomasz "Reyash" Rejek – Bass (2008–present)


Discography :

Studio Albums :

* Vader - The Ultimate Incantation (1993)
* Vader - De Profundis (1995)
* Vader - Black to the Blind (1997)
* Vader - Litany (2000)
* Vader - Revelations (2002)
* Vader - The Beast (2004)
* Vader - Impressions in Blood (2006)
* Vader - Necropolis (2009)
* Vader - Return to the Morbid Reich (2011)

Videos :

* Vader - "Dark Age" (1993, directed: Kimmo Kuusniemi, Tanja Katinka)
* Vader - "Incarnation" (1996)
* Vader - "Kingdom" (1998, directed: Krzysztof Mierzwinski)
* Vader - "Cold Demons" (2002, directed: Adam Kuc)
* Vader - "Epitaph" (2002)
* Vader - "Dark Transmission" (2004, directed: Wojciech Glodek)
* Vader - "Choices" (2004, directed: Wojciech Glodek)
* Vader - "This Is the War" (2005, directed: Arkadiusz Jurcan)
* Vader - "Helleluyah!!! (God Is Dead)" (2006, directed: Andrzej Wyrozebski)
* Vader - "Sword of the Witcher" (2007, directed: Andrzej Wyrozebski)
* Vader - "Carnal" (2008, directed: Carlos Abysmo)
* Vader - "Never Say My Name" (2009, directed: Inbornmedia)


Associated Acts :

* Behemoth
* Dies Irae
* Spinal Cord
* Vesania
* Neolithic
* UnSun
* CrionicS
* Decapitated