Vadiat's Doomed Death Metal Transfixes on "Father Impaler" (Early Track Stream)
There’s a streak of doom in Vadiat‘s deathly orchestration, and it’s spread like a mutation throughout their upcoming debut Spear of Creation. Rather than this being a one-way influence, i.e., simply applying death metal-isms at doom metal tempos, the Cleveland group (consisting of members of local standouts like Terror, Blood of Christ, Ringworm, and more) also colors their high-speed lethality with melodic and rhythmic cues from doom and heavy metal. It’s a refreshingly flexible approach to the hybrid genre, and one that leads to some killer moments as the band unites twisted melodies, lurching rhythms, and, of course, growls, with a madman’s disdain for conformity.
We’re premiering the track “Father Impaler” below, which offers a peek at how this plays out–desolate melodies unfold into a complex twin-guitar onslaught with intricate harmonies and some badass lead work. At points, this track feels like it’s harnessing doom metal riffs that are sped all the way up, in the most righteous way possible.
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The harmonies and guitar work here are a pervasive element to the record that makes each song fresh and iconically memorable. That might be a clue to why the record closes with a Trouble cover, actually — just like the iconic Chicago doom band, Vadiat makes sure to use its dual-guitar configuration intentionally and creatively, rather than as a simple force multiplier.
Guitarist/vocalist Brian Sekula comments:
The song was inspired by Vlad the Impaler and his onslaught against the Ottoman Empire. The “Father Impaler” was responsible for the deaths of more than 80,000 people in his lifetime—a large percentage of them by impalement. It’s actually an old title from another band I was involved in called Funeral Pyre that never made it past the demo stage. It had the same title, but sonically much different. In all the years of writing music, typically concepts and lyrics are always last, but this title / subject matter definitely drove the atmosphere and the development of the music this time around.
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Spear of Creation releases April 28th via Redefining Darkness Records.
