The Classic Metal Album Review:
Title: Future of the Past
Artist: Vader
Label:Pavement Music
Release Date: 1996

Rating: 5 Skulls
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    • Kefka X's Review:
    Very few bands have been able to have the consistent and respectable catalogue that Polish death metal juggernauts Vader have had throughout their 15+-year career. Because of this, trying to choose one of their albums to review as a classic is a near-impossible task. Blindly I went through my CD collection and grabbed an album of theirs at random. And of course, I grabbed the oddball release, Future of the Past.

    I call this an oddball release because, in essence, it's not a studio album. Future of the Past is an all-Vader, all-cover compilation. What we have here is 11 tracks paying homage to metal classics spanning from the birth of heavy metal up to the late 80's dawning of grindcore. And anyone who has ever listened to Vader knows exactly what to expect these covers to sound like: warp-speed, European death metal that resembles the intensity and adrenaline that one would experience while being raped by a two-liter of Mountain Dew-Code Red.

    Future of the Past is important in that it showcases extreme metal from the older generations with a modern twist of death metal, thus presenting the evolution that metal has taken in the short span of two decades. Check out their cover of Possessed's genre-defining classic, "Death Metal." It's a hell of a treat to listen to and my favorite cover on the album by far. I couldn't help but laugh when I first heard the two Terrorizer covers on this CD, and to hear Vader playing them at twice the original speed. It seriously makes you wonder what metal will sound like 15 years from now.

    There are some old gems on this release, including Sodom, Kreator, Celtic Frost and Slayer covers. Even the Depeche Mode (yes, they cover Depeche Mode) cover is interesting to listen to, although throws you off-guard in the maelstrom of speed. As a cover album, it's essential in that it covers a wide range of metal's roots and history without being too linear. As a death metal album, it's not classic the way De Profundis or Black to the Blind is, but it's a heavy, fast, and highly enjoyable installment to the band's already-extensive discography. It reminds me of why metal is so damned fun, and sometimes that's all that really matters.
    5 out of 5

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