The Beast (album)

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The Beast
Cover art by Jacek Wiśniewski
Studio album by
Vader
Released8 September 2004
RecordedRG Studio, Gdańsk, May–June 2004[1]
GenreDeath metal
Length37:48
LabelMetal Mind, Metal Blade
ProducerPiotr Wiwczarek
Vader chronology
Blood
(2003) 		The Beast
(2004) 		The Art of War
(2005)
Singles from The Beast
  1. "Beware the Beast"
    Released: 24 August 2004
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Chronicles of Chaos[2]
Teraz Rock[3]
Exclaim!favorable[4]

The Beast is the sixth album by the Polish death metal band Vader. It was released on 8 September 2004 in Japan by Marquee/Avalon, 20 September in Poland via Metal Mind Productions, and a day later in Europe and the United States by Metal Blade Records.

The album's working title was Spiritual Disease.[5] The release was preceded by the single "Beware the Beast", which was released on 25 August 2004. The album was nominated for a Fryderyk Award in the category 'Metal Album of the Year (Album roku metal)'.[6] Two music videos have been made for the songs "Dark Transmission" and "Choices", which were directed by Wojciech Głodek. Video clips were shot at RG Studio while recording the album. In Poland, The Beast landed at position No. 8, and dropped out five weeks later. The album also charted in Japan.

The album was recorded between May and June 2004 at RG Studio in Gdańsk, Poland, and was produced by Piotr Wiwczarek. The album was mastered by Jacek Gawłowski at JG Lab Studio in Warsaw, Poland. Originally, drum sessions took place at Hertz Studio in Białystok in February 2004 with drummer Krzysztof "Doc" Raczkowski,[7] however, Raczkowski fell down a flight of stairs, causing arm and leg injuries.[7] Because of the accident, the studio sessions was postponed. Ultimately, the band decided to hire Vesania drummer Dariusz "Daray" Brzozowski as a session musician.[7] Piotr "Peter" Wiwczarek talked about the accident while working on the album, saying:

[...]factor that was pretty important was The Beast was the first album without Doc drumming on it. Believe me, if Doc had been on the record (and he was supposed to be, as we had started recording it when he fell and broke his hand, basically because he was drunk, which was one of the reasons we decided he had to quit the band), it wouldn't have been such a big drama around it. First, I tried to make The Beast more melodic compared to the previous one, Revelations. And then we had a new guy (Daray) replacing one [of] the most important persons in the band (Doc), who created Vader and its songs since the beginning.[8]

Track listing[edit]

No.TitleLyricsMusicLength
1."Intro" (instrumental) Piotr Wiwczarek0:59
2."Out of the Deep"Piotr WiwczarekPiotr Wiwczarek4:51
3."Dark Transmission"Paweł FrelikPiotr Wiwczarek4:09
4."Firebringer"Piotr WiwczarekPiotr Wiwczarek3:32
5."The Sea Came in at Last"Paweł FrelikPiotr Wiwczarek4:05
6."I Shall Prevail"Paweł FrelikPiotr Wiwczarek3:49
7."The Zone"Paweł FrelikPiotr Wiwczarek4:30
8."Insomnia"Paweł FrelikPiotr Wiwczarek3:27
9."Apopheniac"Paweł FrelikPiotr Wiwczarek4:13
10."Choices"Łukasz SzurmińskiPiotr Wiwczarek4:07
Total length:37:48
Japanese Bonus Track
No.TitleLyricsMusicLength
11."Stranger in the Mirror"Łukasz SzurmińskiPiotr Wiwczarek2:41
Special edition DVD/CD
No.TitleLyricsMusicLength
1."Studio Report" (video)  24:13
2."Dark Transmission" (videoclip)Paweł FrelikPiotr Wiwczarek3:52
3."Choices" (videoclip)Łukasz SzurmińskiPiotr Wiwczarek2:45
4."Epitaph" (Live at Metalmania 2003)Łukasz SzurmińskiPiotr Wiwczarek3:57
5."Wings" (Live at Metalmania 2003)Paweł FrelikPiotr Wiwczarek4:26
6."The Nomad" (Live at Metalmania 2003)Paweł FrelikPiotr Wiwczarek4:14

Personnel[edit]

Production and performance credits are adapted from the album liner notes.

Vader
Production
  • Paweł Frelik – lyrics
  • Łukasz Szurmiński – lyrics
  • Piotr Łukaszewski – sound engineering, mixing[11]
  • Grzegorz Smoloński – photos
  • Jacek Gawłowski – mastering
  • Bartłomiej Kuźniak – mastering (single)
  • Jacek Wiśniewski – cover art[12]
  • Wojtek Głodek – studio report
Note
  • Recorded & mixed at RG Studio, Gdańsk, May/June 2004
  • Mastered at JG Lab Studio, Warszawa, July 2004
  • Studio report & video-clips filmed at RG Studio, Gdańsk
  • Live video-clips filmed during Metalmania Festival 2003, Katowice, Poland.

Beware the Beast[edit]

"Beware the Beast" is the fifth single by the Polish death metal band Vader.[13] It was released only in Poland on 24 August 2004 by Empire Records. The release features two songs "Dark Transmission (333.version)", "Stranger in the Mirror", studio report, and music video for "Dark Transmission".

The studio report consists walk through the main recording process of The Beast album, interview with band members, and studio engineer Piotr Łukaszewski. Marcin "Novy" Nowak despite being shown in video did not record any off bass lines which were handled by Piotr "Peter" Wiwczarek.[9]

Track listing[edit]

No.TitleLyricsMusicLength
1."Dark Transmission (333.version)"Paweł FrelikPiotr Wiwczarek3:54
2."Stranger in the Mirror"Łukasz SzurmińskiPiotr Wiwczarek2:40
3."Studio Report" (video)  24:13
4."Dark Transmission" (music video)  3:52

Charts[edit]

Weekly[edit]

Chart (2004) Peak
position
Polish Albums Chart[14] 8
Japanese Albums Chart[15] 207

Monthly[edit]

Chart (2004) Peak
position
Poland (ZPAV Top 100) 15[16]

Release history[edit]

Formats Region Date Label
CD Japan 8 September 2004[17] Avalon Marquee
CD, 2CD Poland 20 September 2004[18][19] Metal Mind Productions
CD, CD+DVD, LP USA/Europe 21 September 2004[20] Metal Blade Records

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Vader - 'The Beast'". www.vader.pl. Retrieved 9 February 2014.
  2. ^ Smit, Jackie. "Vader - "The Beast" review". www.chroniclesofchaos.com. Retrieved 9 February 2014.
  3. ^ Brzeziński, Adam. "Vader - "The Beast" review" (in Polish). www.terazrock.pl. Retrieved 9 February 2014.
  4. ^ Pratt, Greg (1 January 2006). "Vader 'The Beast' review". exclaim.ca. Retrieved 1 March 2014.
  5. ^ Vader Set Working Title For New Album blabbermouth.net. 23 November 2003. Retrieved on 2011-08-22.
  6. ^ "Fryderyki 2004: nominowani i laureaci" (in Polish). www.zpav.pl. Retrieved 6 February 2014.
  7. ^ a b c d "Recordings postponed, a new drummer!". vader.pl. 17 February 2004. Retrieved 2 March 2014.
  8. ^ Martinelli, Roberto. "Interview with Piotr 'Peter' Wiwczarek". www.maelstromzine.com.
  9. ^ a b Walewski, Jacek (12 August 2011). "Novy (ex VADER etc.): (Nie)spełniony muzyk" (in Polish). www.atmospheric.pl. Retrieved 6 February 2014.
  10. ^ Vader, The Beast, 2004, Poland, Metal Mind Productions, Catalogue No. MMP CDD 0279
  11. ^ "The Beast almost ready!". vader.pl. 28 June 2004. Retrieved 2 March 2014.
  12. ^ "Jacek Wiśniewski: works". www.artworks.isg.pl. Archived from the original on 22 February 2008. Retrieved 6 February 2014.
  13. ^ "Vader - 'Beware the Beast'". www.vader.pl. Retrieved 9 February 2014.
  14. ^ "OLiS - sales for the period 20.09.2004 - 26.09.2004". olis.onyx.pl. Retrieved 6 February 2014.
  15. ^ "ベイダーのCD・DVDリリース情報、ベイダーのプロフィールならオリコン芸能人事典-ORICON STYLE" (in Japanese). Oricon.co.jp. Retrieved 6 February 2014.
  16. ^ "Top 100 - lista miesięczna Wrzesień 2004" (in Polish). muzyka.interia.pl. Retrieved 13 March 2014.
  17. ^ "Vader - 'The Beast'" (in Japanese). www.marquee.co.jp. Retrieved 9 February 2014.
  18. ^ "Vader - 'The Beast'" (in Polish). www.metalmind.com.pl. Retrieved 9 February 2014.
  19. ^ "Vader: 'The Beast' Track Listing Announced". blabbermouth.net. Retrieved 9 February 2014.
  20. ^ "Vader - 'The Beast'". www.metalblade.com. Retrieved 9 February 2014.
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