Vektor/Cryptosis - Transmissions of Chaos (2021)

 Transmissions of Chaos is the first Vektor release since the band's troubles and dissolution in 2016, and they've chosen to share it with the comparable Dutch act Cryptosis, who were poised to release a pretty good debut in Bionic Swarm that same year. The pairing is a good one, both bands having a fusion of technical thrash and death elements, without sounding quite the same, but complementary to the other, which is more than I can say for a lot of bands that decide to share wax (or tape) like this. The futurist/sci-fi/cyborg thematic elements also jive pretty well in unison, and if there were any hope for a New Wave of Science Fiction Death/Thrash, these would certainly be two of the flag carriers launching their vessels out in the cosmos.

The Arizonans had been doing it for years, after all, and their contribution here pretty much picks up from where they left off on the great Terminal Redux. Kinetic riffing passages powered by David's nasty vocals, flurries of clinical melodies that give it that cosmic or otherworldly feel, hearkening back to Voivod although Vektor doesn't quite play with the same guitar language that Piggy created for the Canadians; instead it's more of a cutting edge progressive metal style with a bit more consonance to it, lots of lines reminiscent of Florida's Cynic and other bands of that ilk. The tunes here are not their catchiest, and a little chaotic in how there is the flux between the cleaner guitars and the space-shark-like frenzy in "Activate", or the cleaner vocal sections of "Dead by Dawn", a more elaborate track on which they're trying something new. Interesting material, and the bass playing of Stephen Coon is a standout, along with the estimable duo of DiSanto and Nelson, but probably better to have been committed to this limited release rather than a proper new full album.

I think it is Cryptosis who have penned the more cohesive material for this, and I was really feeling the hyper-riffing and ravenous barks of "Decypher" that break out into some catchy, Middle Eastern sounding melodies. The drumming is sick here, the production explosive and it just feels more impressive as a song than anything on 'Side A'. "Prospect of Immortality" is another strong piece, slower but longer and more involved (the second side is set up quite like Vektor's). I also loved the leads, the bass tone, honestly these are two of the band's better tracks...but that's also where Transmissions loses a bit of value. Both of these would appear on Bionic Swarm, and though they do match well enough with Vektor, they match a lot better with themselves, and are thus better experienced on that full-length. Assuming DiSanto and company might remix or re-record or include them with a future release, either as part of the core track list or bonus content, this split might become completely irrelevant. So bear that in mind, but if you're a big fan of the Arizonans, and this is the only place it's ever available, it might just be worth it.

Verdict: Indifference [5.5/10]

https://www.facebook.com/VektorOfficial

https://cryptosis.net/

Vektor - Terminal Redux (2016)

By the time Terminal Redux dropped, Vektor was already on a trajectory towards the stars, and I don't just mean the ones out in space that they so love to sing about, but the popularity contest that is American brutal or technical death metal, deathcore, and such. Though they already had two fantastic records under their belts, it seemed like it was this one where suddenly everyone started chattering about them everywhere, placing them on their year's end lists and starting to take it all very seriously. It's not hard to understand why, because the musicianship was formidable, there's a lot of weaponry DiSanto and company could attack with, and they were just plain ambitious when the idea of a technical death/thrash band seemed like an idea that was restrained to Florida and certain parts of Europe in the later 80s and early 90s.

There just weren't a lot of bands channeling Voivod, Cynic, Atheist, Deathrow, old Pestilence, and the like, and these are all components you might hear in Vektor's sound, though to their great credit, they are a copy of none of these. These cats have their own ideas, and Terminal Redux is quite a progressive offering, from the constantly shifting tone and riffing styles, to the ideas like the ethereal backing vocals on a couple of the tracks. This record is an adventure, one in which you don't know where all the turns are coming until you've experienced the entirely a few times over, and that's one of its strengths. Although Dave DiSanto's raspy vocals unify the whole, there's a huge plethora of rhythmic dynamics here, riffing sequences that feel like they took quite some effort to put together with all the instruments, and a penchant for longer tunes that don't ever really grow too tiresome or boring. Is there a bit of self-indulgence and excess? Perhaps, but nothing that terribly surpasses or even rivals many other technical death metal acts or shredders of the past, and it all comes together into a varied assault that largely sticks the landing.

The lyrics are nerdy, excellent excursions into science and science fictional concepts, which can transport the listener to the extra-terrestrial realms the band wants to inhabit, I wasn't paying attention enough to tell if this was a coherent story, but each of the tracks has so much going for it that it wouldn't be necessary. It must be pretty hard to memorize this stuff, so to pull it off in the studio without sounding too artificial is a feat unto itself, and the production is a great complement, crystal clear but honest and never too drowned out in effects or atmosphere that you can't get to the meat of the instrumentation. Terminal Redux does live up to its heights, but it lacked the surprise for me that Black Future achieved, and to a fractionally lesser extent its follow-up Outer Isolation. So this one remains in third place with me, but it certainly feels the most complex and progressive and I can totally understand why others might feel otherwise. Of course, Vektor would hit a wall after this one with the sketchy personal behavior, ensuing breakup and social media shitstorm, so it's a wonder if the band would ever be able to get even crazier than this...certainly the two tracks on the split with Cryptosis do not compare to this material, so we'll have to see if the writing is on the starship walls, or if they can outdo themselves once again with even more labyrinthine song structures.

Verdict: Win [8.25/10]

https://www.facebook.com/VektorOfficial

Vektor - Outer Isolation (2011)

Having conquered the modern US thrash scene within the span of a single album, Vektor have built tremendous expectations for its follow-up that they have more or less met with Outer Isolation. I'm not going to come out and say that this is a better album than Black Future, because there are a few tracks in which my attention seems to disappear more readily than others. But it's damned well rounded, tightly sprung, flawlessly executed progressive death/thrash which holds the riff on high about everything else. Edge and elegance are wrought from the band's science fiction extrapolations, and once again they have successfully meshed the vision of Voivod, the stern and vicious vocal energy of the Teuton gods Destruction, and the hyperactive pulse of Florida's death/thrash pioneers Atheist and Hellwitch into a pulse pounding fusion.

It doesn't start out on its best footing, but the creative ledge is wide enough that "Cosmic Cortex" never comes close to plummeting over the side. Eerie, clean guitars are matched with sprinkles of ambient feedback as they erupt into a shifting haze of Voivod-like dissonance and pure force via classic Destruction, with some thrifty melodic tremolo bursts. This is a better thrash song than most other bands will release this year, and yet it's nowhere near a highlight of the album. I was actually surprised at just how much I loved the new renditions of their earlier tracks from the Demolition demo. "Tetrastructural Minds" sounds 100% improved, with rabid spasms of bass, alien cleans, and inspiring, melodic spikes that show the Arizonian's mastery of complex, compositional considerations. The once latent beauty of "Venus Project" is also brought to the fore here, with its amazing, plucky intro evoking the perfect inauguration to the slicing rhythms inherent to the verse, and those wild descending dual-melodies in the bridges. "Fast Paced Society" is also dragged out of the dust, though I didn't like the song quite as much as its peers.

Highlights of the newer crafted material include "Dying World" with its bass-driven, almost space surf-worthy intro, extraterrestrial melodies interspersed with angry, mid-paced thrash chugging and vocals that feel like Schmier if he'd been placed in solitary confinement for a few months. I love the way the riffs shift at the 2 minute mark, so groovy and almost industrial in their precision. "Dark Creations, Dead Creators" also achieves much in its briefer, 3:25 run, from a moody intro to a number of biting riffs as it gradually accelerates. It would also be remiss not to mention just how good the closing title track is. Granted, it's not as 'epic' or stretched out as the 10+ minute opener "Cosmic Cortex", but "Outer Isolation" really develops that feeling of being lost in some unfathomable void, first with the slow accumulation of its saturated, almost folksy electrics, and then a twisting vortex of riffing that recalls all of the progressive German thrash masters like Paradox, Deathrow and Vendetta. Fucking marvelous.

Vektor might have lost its element of surprise here, after spinning the world around with their proper debut Black Future, and I don't really think Outer Isolation progresses that album's formula in any heavily noticeable way. This is more a stride in production, since I felt that the guitars were thicker and even more punchy than before, and the vocals even more effective if they're mildly less dramatic. To an extent, this album 'plays it safe' with the prior's formula, but only as safe as manic space-thrash could ever be. That said, Vektor once again deserves the accolades it reaps due to the fact that they take this music so seriously. That they do such a knock out job in both writing and production, and that they don't treat thrash with the same abusive, derivative lack of grasp that so many of their peers do. Sure, you can trace this band's roots to a number of others, but how they merge them is indisputably unique.

Thrash and death metal have always been enormous inspirations for me personally, and I make no jest that the former is probably my favorite of metal's sub-genres. So it's a distinct honor to have a band like Vektor taking the music forward without taking the piss, and Outer Isolation, even if it's not perfect, is another formidable exhibition of intelligent craftsmanship and unbridled energy which will sate expectations and attention spans time and time again.

Verdict: Win [8.75/10] (beginnings of a mind adrift)

http://www.myspace.com/vektor

Vektor - Demolition (2006)

By now, the whispers surrounding Arizona's Vektor have upgraded to a chorus of roars. It's hard enough these days to find a good band taking thrash metal seriously and not just taking the piss for a chance to get laid and high in their carousel of hi-top retro fashion and Hot Topic love affairs, but Vektor were a lot more than just good. Their 2009 sophomore album Black Future was an astonishing, cohesive glimpse at what made technical thrash of the 80s so good, and nostalgia for the mightiest works of Coroner, Watchtower, Deathrow, Atheist, and Voivod came crashing over me like currents of warmth and sanity among the shills and snake oil salesmen that have somehow throttled themselves into popularity through persistent touring and fucking off.

Demolition is not Black Future, of course, and it's really just an ad hoc, self released debut album pooled from the band's 2003 Nucleus demo and some additional material. Some of the tracks do appear on Black Future, namely "Oblivion" and "Destroying the Cosmos", and they sound much better there, but fans of the band's schizoid, dystopian dementia would probably enjoy this for the material they haven't heard. In particular, I really like the track "Venus Project", which had appeared on Nucleus and rifles through a number of hyper riffs and tranquil bridges, both of which manifest enormous curiosity. The other center piece here is the heavily Voivod influenced "Moonbase", a 13 minute epic that plods for an infinity into some eerie, alien depths. "Testrastructural Minds" and "Fast Paced Society" also earn their keep through faster riffing and psychokinetic intensity, but otherwise the album is just two instrumental shorts ("Spiral Galaxy" and "Infiltration") and the tracks that will re-appear on Black Future.

The sound is obviously not so pro as the band's later gestation would allow, but it's more than decent enough for amateur thrash, especially when played at this level of conviction and ambition. In particular, I feel like David Disanto's vocals here are only a pale shadow of what they'd develop into. He still evokes that impish quality, but his screams are pretty bad where they appear, and he's not yet the manic snarling equivalent of a Kelly Schaefer or even Chuck Schuldiner. The drums also feel a little less powerful in this particular mix, though the original drummer was still pretty good, with some obvious jazz in how he concocts the percussion for the more unusual segments of tracks like "Moonbase". The lyrics are ponderous and analytical as you might expect, similar to Death after they jumped ship to their more 'progressive' album, or a lot of the philosophical thrash bands of the 80s (Deathrow's Deception Ignored, or Coroner), but they also create a lot of stark, violent imagery. In the end, Demolition is worth hearing if you already enjoy Vektor, but start with Black Future if you're new and want to be blown into atoms.

Verdict: Win [7/10] (awaiting and unsure of their fate)

http://www.myspace.com/vektor

Vektor - Black Future (2009)

At first glance, I saw this Arizona band's logo and cried out in vain. IMPOSTORS! BLASPHEMY! Who would dare to profane the very Canadian Gods themselves by aping their look and style? Then I actually listened to the album, and found that, while there is obviously some tiny influence from Voivod, the logo is more of a tribute than any statement of stylistic plagiarism. I also discovered that Vektor are a pretty kick ass band with enormous potential. This is tech thrash, with a progressive edge in so much that they very carefully build complex tracks loaded with good riffing that not only flogs your bottom, but actually experiments with mood and atmsophere.

Perhaps a better comparison for this band would be a mix of early Atheist, (sped-up) Death, Deathrow (during their tech phase), Sadus and the obscure NH band Terrahsphere, sans the wild vocals. That is not to say David Disanto does not go off with his impetuous, diabolical snarling, and his delivery certainly cuts through the band's dense rhythmic explorations and 'wall of thrash' approach. Though I don't find this album a be all, end all masterpiece of the genre, it is an extremely refreshing listen, because there simply aren't many bands out there anymore who perform in this style, and Vektor offer a lot more sheer riffing than almost any other young thrash act in the world. Talented is an understatement, because this band's musical skill should turn more heads than Kristen Stewart at the Jr. Vampire Merit Badge convention.

Each track is an exercise in style, beginning with the titular piece, a flurry of intense guitar spikes that flank Disanto's Schmier-like extremities. At the 2 minute mark, the band breaks into this amazing trot with a few layers of guitarwork blowing your mind at once, before a solid thrash breakdown and then some further adventures off into the bleak dystopian rust of the band's lyrical musings. "Oblivion" is given a little kick by Blake Anderson, soon joined by some neo-classic weavings and a good punchy rhythmic thrust. "Destroying the Cosmos" channels everything from Voivod to a little touch of black metallic chord in the galloping riff that precedes the spurious verse. "Forests of Legend" is ambitious, 10+ minutes that kick off with a brilliant acoustic passage lathed in ambient woodland sounds. But fear not, after this moment passes you get nine more in which the band explores a wide spectrum of insanity, and as usual the little plucky guitar melodies that dwell just at the edge of the thick central riffing recall the beautiful surgical misantrhopy of Deathrow's Deception Ignored. The fact you can write a song this long, in this style, and not make someone lose patience speaks volumes.

Voices from inside seem to pull you in
Dark wisdom runs on the still, damp wind
Glow of the eye, fear the gaze
The great ape returns disconnected and changed

"Hunger for Violence" is perhaps one of the most Voivod-like compositions, its opening chords jangle with strange symmetry like something from Dimension Hatross, and as it develops it feels like Piggy and crew jamming with, say, Theory in Practice from Sweden. "Deoxyribonucleic Acid" opens with a classy, Maiden-like riff sped up and ascending into scientific thrashing precision. "Asteroid" tones down the technicality to rock your face off for a few minutes, straying a little further out near the climax of the track as it develops an incredible, thundering extra-worldy charge, the solid bass erupting below like Lemmy if he were to build a time machine and hurl his alma mater Hawkwind a few hundreds years into the actual future. The album then closes with two more epic-length compositions...highly ambitious. "Dark Nebula" is like Pink Floyd's "Astronimy Domine" being covered by alien virtuosos, and no coincidence, another of the few tracks here that really showcases a little of the Voivod influence. "Accelerating Universe" crowns off the album with an initial, anthemic Metallica thrash hammering and then journeys through about 13 minutes of diversity, culminating in the psychedelic, amazing atmosphere beyond the 7 minute mark.

Vektor is simply insane. Here we have a thrash metal band with all the right influence, all the right lyrics, and ZERO retrospective stupidity. For any who doubt the genre's viability in the 21st century, this is another album that begs you to GUESS AGAIN. If you enjoy riffs and technicality with your thrash or death, you owe it to yourself to give this is a listen. I won't say it's perfect, because the actual memorability of the songs could still use some work, but the band excels in nearly every department and there are enough moments of mirth here to grant Black Future some very high honors indeed.

Highlights: Destroying the Cosmos, Forest of Legend, Hunger for Violence, Dark Nebula

Verdict: Epic Win [9/10] (into the night, seeker of light)

http://www.myspace.com/vektor