Vader – Black To The Blind

"Black To The Blind" is one of the classic Vader albums from the 90s, by and large a great record, half an hour of fast and furious material with lots of extreme solos and ultra intensive rhythm section. In many ways, it was during the recording period of De Profundis / Black to the Blind that the band formed its unique image among listeners, further continuing to hone their skills and improve their musical style. So among the many great releases in the band's career, don't forget about the legacy from the last millennium. The reissue took an undeservedly long time. Partly, the problem with this particular album is the lack of a vinyl release in the year of release, so there is no conventional standart with which to compare, there remains the remastered (?) press of 2012 (most likely, the sources used there are both for CD) and the other remastered press of 2025.

The sound on the latest release is definitely good, balanced, loud, clear, in-face, without blurring and digitalization. The feeling of analog sound is present, the remastering is careful, the impressions are extremely positive, just as the spirit of the recording has not been lost - you can hear that the original recording is from the nineties. The vinyl is of standard weight (about 160 grams), perfectly smooth, the color is almost matched with artwork, and there is no noise during playback.

The design of the vinyl edition is completely identical to the one that was released in the same year on CD. In fact, the booklet for vinyl is the same booklet for CD (photos have already been ed to the CD version), just printed in 12" format. In principle, the booklet format is the only good thing in itself, because it is not informative and usually the same amount of information is placed on a regular insert. Otherwise, you just get the lyrics in huge letters on the background of a red cloud on a separate sheet. And note separately that the quality of the booklet's printing leaves much to be desired, as the paper is very flimsy as for the CD version. Although in the end, the design can be called atmospheric, which is not so typical for Death Metal formations.

My copy was ordered in early February, and the "Sunburst" press, limited to 900 copies, ended up in the Nuclear Blast online store about a month before the official sales date. Do we need any more evidence of how much this album is still in demand? Must have! Most likely, we will see a more or less regular reprint of the print run. The version with this sound definitely deserves attention.