So it has been two years already?
Vader is, as I believe I have mentioned in an earlier review, a regular in visiting Copenhagen and The Rock, and we are always happy to have them. On that note, it was actually only last year Vader was here last, but I’m not going to be the one complaining about that.

Not surprisingly, the band held a few new faces (it seems this is always the case when we see these guys play); Piotr ’Peter’ Wiwczarek on guitars and vocals seem to be the only reliable constant, and moving on up from session to full-time member I recognised Marek ’Spider’ Pajak on second guitar. The new guys, both added to the line-up in 2011, were bassist Tomasz ’Hal’ Halicki (Hermh, Abused Majesty) and drummer James Stewart (Divine Chaos).
The new guys played admirably, but I have by now learned that as long as Wiwczarek is at the helm, Vader will be alright; after all, he has steered his mighty war-vessel for nearly 20 years now, and if anything they seem to put out even more energy than ever, something which Vader’s latest album, Welcome To The Morbid Reich, so effectively proves. The (almost) title song of said album, Return To The Morbid Reich, actually opened the show, and quite effectively so.

The in-your-face aggression of the music is nothing new to anyone who has heard this genre-defining band in the past, but it was interesting to see how someone putting this much vitality into their music puts so little vitality into their performance; the only mobility I saw in Wiwczarek was that when he didn’t sing he took a step back from the mic-stand and only played his guitar in wait for the next time he was to open his mouth. Hal wasn’t much better, only some headbanging and a little bit of posing, but other than this there wasn’t much to come for; Spider I didn’t have a good view of to begin with as he was on the opposite side of the stage from me, mostly obscured by the pillar in the middle, and it wasn’t until Wings, almost halfway through the set, that Hal and he changed sides with each other. When this happened though, it was easy to see who was the biggest performer of the band, Spider was kicking ass up there, and did a great job trying to suck the audience in; he even got a small ’Hey’ shout-along going for the aforementioned song before returning to his starting position of the stage.

”Godaften Copenhagen!”
- Piotr ’Peter’ Wiwczarek (vocals, guitar)

Even though he wasn’t very active physically, Wiwczarek had his own little ways of warming up the audience; for one thing he had learned a couple or so basic sentences in Danish which he managed to say in a very convincing way with a good pronunciation. This and the small amount of normal chitchat between songs managed a bit of crowd-shouting by itself, the loudest of which he got from what I am expecting was a small group of Polish fans to which he said something in what I expect to be Polish (yeah, no, I don’t know the language well enough to make any certain comment about it).
The crowd was also impressively large for a mere Thursday, and it had grown considerably since Valkyrja (first band of the night) had played, but even given this fact, and the fact that this is one of the most beloved death metal acts we get around these parts on a regular basis, the response tonight wasn’t nearly as impressive as I would have thought it to be. The room was nearing a filled status, and yet there were only a small handful of headbangers in the front, whilst the large number behind them only nodded respectfully (although not very enthusiastically) along to the furious music... We had to go all the way to Silent Empire to even see the shadow of a well-deserved moshpit, and even this died out temporarily before the solo of the song; it regained some power after the solo, but didn’t last the rest of the song...
Even so, I do believe that people were glad to have the band here. Why? Because in between songs there were loud shouts and applause beckoning for more, and from time to time an equally loud Vader chanting filled the room.

Speaking only my piece for a minute, I found it interesting to ponder upon the fact that Vader was tonight doing almost everything wrong in what I would deem vital for a successful live-performance, yet even so they still kicked the asses of the other bands without the slightest effort. To put it simply, once more Vader was a great success!
I especially liked, as always, the great energy and nerve the music provides, and luckily Vader had a very good sound which helped this get across nicely, and I also couldn’t help but love the humbleness and laid back kindness in the attitude of the singer. Why these guys were supporting Gorgoroth instead of headlining the event I will never understand, but hopefully Vader will be back before long on their own tour. Until then we shall wait in our own private morbid Reich...

Setlist:

Return To The Morbid Reich
Sothis
Devilizer
Never Say My Name
Come And See My Sacrifice
Black Velvet And Skulls Of Steel
Wings
Carnal
I Am Who Feasts Upon Your Soul
The Wrath
Decapitated Saints
Kingdom
Silent Empire
Cold Demons
Helleluyah!!! (God Is Dead)
Para Bellum
This Is The War