Interview with Piotr "Peter" Wiwczarek of VADER (Poland)

May 06, 2024

Interview with Piotr "Peter" Wiwczarek of VADER (Poland)

By Mick Michaels

Cosmick View: Hello, Peter! Welcome to The Cosmick View. Thanks for taking some time out of your day to speak with us. It's greatly appreciated.
Piotr "Peter" Wiwczarek: All pleasure is mine. Looks like I now have free time for the next two months. However, I also have a lot of work to do to clear up the backlog.

CV: What does having a 40-year career legacy with Vader mean to you? Is it something that you image back when the band first formed?
PETER: 40 is a huge number and - honestly - I never expected to exist that long when we started back in 80’s. Time flies fast if you are active 24/7, You know. We were a band of Metal freaks, who wanted to do some crazy shit in grey, boring and too much political influenced Poland. Huge changes were happening in our country and even more were about to come. But we were teenagers wanting to escape from those realities. Metal was our shelter and motivation. That was our way of using the energy that was accumulating in us and I think, it’s still the case. ;)

CV: What was once considered an underground form of Heavy Metal, Death Metal has become a movement and a way of life in its own right for both artists and its fans. How do you feel Death Metal as a genre has evolved in the world of music over the years?
PETER: I still rather call it an “Extreme Metal” genre more than “Death Metal”. I adopted years ago a Death Metal tag for Vader - of course - because that name still fits perfectly to the band. This was still more like a trendy mark in 90’s in my opinion. Almost each band playing faster with growling was Death Metal. Vader came from 80’s though and we were called a Thrash Metal or even Black Metal horde back then. I used to write “Black Thrash” on our early flyers: “Black” for lyrics and general image and “Thrash” for the brutal Music. That was a decade before Black Metal started a fire in the North, of course. I do not put as much attention on style name as I did in early days. It explains noting today, if you know, what I mean. “Death Metal” today contains far too many total different styles and images.

CV: With bands like Black Sabbath, Slayer and Metallica winning Grammy Awards for Best Hard Rock/Heavy Metal Performance, do you feel Heavy Metal as a whole has become more of an accepted genre as opposed to how it was viewed or even not viewed, 40 plus years ago?
PETER: Extreme Metal is a music of our generation. Old Fans or ex-Fans became older and today they deal with politic, medicine, finances etc. They do take decisions like their parents did before. Our world is far more Metal-friendly and Extreme Tones became part of a business. Did Metallica think about such huge success in 1981? Nope. The world keeps turning…and changing.

CV: Vader has embarked on its "40 Years of The Apolcolypse North Amercian Anniversary Tour," as well as heading out on this summer's "40 Years of Chaos European Anniversary Tour." What can fans expect... will there be any surprises in store for them?
PETER: We have ended US/Canada tour about a month ago and it was absolutely great indeed! We do have diehard Fans on American Continent since decades but we do not expect that great, emotional tour. It was a blast! Too bad, that Mauser could not join us on this extraordinary trip but… He probably will next time though. I mentioned Mauser, because He joined us on stage after many years on the 1st anniversary part in Poland and then in West Europe. First He supposed to play just few shows occasionally adding more power to all chosen songs from His era. We all - Mauser and the band - liked that so much, so we kept that idea for bit longer. Mauser will be much more frequent player in Vader in near future and our Fans will have a chance to fell Vader with three guitars as 5-piece horde. How cool is that? So on 2nd part of our “40 Years of the Apocalypse” - anniversary tour in Europe starting in middle of June Mauser will play the whole show, including a bunch of songs , He never played before. We also changed set list drastically, because the whole „Black To The Blind” album will be a part of it. The upcoming tour will be very, VERY special.

Photo by Camden Cruz

CV: What do you feel most people get wrong about what it's like being in a Death Metal band, and why do you think they have such a misconception?
PETER: People have no idea about life on tour or in a band. They know big names like Metallica, Slipknot or Behemoth as celebrities or mass media stars. Fans usually know Their bands through the successes and real life on tour remains in the shade of ignorance. As an old school Metal Fan I never understood and supported rockstar attitude. However - as I mentioned before - the World keeps changing so do Fans…and bands. Arrogance and ignorance settled up here too. Vader was never a chart list band though and this kinda problem is not our problem. My life was never easy but always very intense and interesting. And that was my choice…. It is always about choices.

CV: Over the years, have you found that critics of Heavy Metal often just have a lack of understanding with the music and its message, or do you think it's more of a legitimate dislike or even hatred for the music for some particular personal reason?
PETER: Noise and brutality - sometimes also a specific image - is a natural barrier for all non-Metal people. What was like a shield and pride for us - Metal Fans, was disgusting and not acceptable for all others. It is evolving though. Priest or Saxon were too brutal for Rock Fans in 80’s and Napalm Death or …Vader was too brutal for many Heavy Metal heads in early 90’s. This is just a little example to explain, what I mean. Metal was and still is for me an asylum to escape to. It was more significant for 17-years old Peter then today - of course - but still. Today I just have a house of my dream, enough far from civilization, in the woods and I do not need to escape. Metal is still but a special place for my mind. Those, who never were Metal Freaks will never understand the meaning of Extreme Music.

Photo by Dave Claw

CV: What do you feel the effects and the aftermath of the 2020 COVID pandemic gravely changed for the artist and fans that now appears to be a thing of the past in your opinion?
PETER: It didn’t affect Vader that much though. We lost many shows and trips but the band was not frozen for next two years though. We were less active and some of the shows had to be a sitting event more than a real Metal show…but we kept playing and business still running. Many bands rather liked to stay home…and complain, then adopt to the situation and f.i. drop down fees or “swallow pride” and play in smaller clubs and accept all the pandemic rigor. We were able to do it and we were still active. There were huge damages in business though. First of all so many technicians , team members , sound and light engineers changed jobs and never came back after pandemic was over. A good side of COVID times was far more live shows appreciation by Fans worldwide. Shows today remind those in 80’s with emotions, madness and fun. Watching “a show” on YouTube is not that great anymore. And this is GOOD, because this is so true. Even the worst can have a good side and humans sometimes need “a slap in the face” to understand, what they really have.

CV: What more can fans expect to see coming from Vader in 2024 and beyond?
PETER: As I mentioned above - we tour in Europe again in June/July with a new, refreshed set. Vader will also play some festivals in Summer season. We will continue anniversary set in Scandinavia and Asia in late autumn. There are also plans to record new EP in October. There will be long delayed “Black To The Blind” re-edition (with orginal cover art) finally released by Nuclear Blast this year too. We are also preparing an official bootleg recording from “40 Years Of The Apocalypse” shows by our Vader-store. This will be available by the summer. Also Vader’s long awaited English edition of bands official biography “This IS Total War” should be available by the end of 2024. Much work as you see….

CV: Thanks again, Peter, for taking the time to share with our readers. We wish you all the best and continued success.
PETER: For you too. THX \m/

Check out Vader at:

http://www.vader.pl | http://www.facebook.com/vader | https://www.facebook.com/vaderstore |

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My name is Mick Michaels...I'm an artist, music fan, songwriter, producer, show host, dreamer and guitarist for the traditional Heavy Metal band Corners of Sanctuary. Writing has always been a creative outlet for me; what I couldn't say in speech, I was able to do with the written word. Writing has given me a voice and a way for me to create on a multitude of platforms including music and song, articles, independent screenplays, books and now, artist interviews. The Cosmick View is an opportunity to raise the bar and showcase artists in a positive and inspirational light. For me, it's another out-of-this-world adventure.