Band Recommendation: Vektor

I wanted to write about this band for a long time, and I just didn't know how, in what format should it be, when is a good time, should I just recommend it album by album, or make a new series on bands that inspired me, and in the end, I felt this is the best way, and I feel this is the best time for something like that. It may sounds like some simple thing, and maybe it is for most of the people, but not for me, cause Vektor is one of my favorite bands of all time, and influence that this band gave me, put me into mindset for writing music the way I always wanted, and made me appreciate, and listen to music in a different, for me, better way.

Sometimes, when you listen to your favorite band, you remember the time you started listening them, it was love at first sight, and that's all fine and dandy. The way I reacted when I heard Vektor for the first time, or better, the reaction of my brain was, "Aaaaa, this is to fucking complicated, I can't process all of this, aaa...!" I admit, technical/progressive thrash metal was a little bit to much for me at the time. I was 17-18 years old, and before that, I listened 80s thrash, nothing progressive, nothing mind stretching, nothing that "weird".

Friend of mine, that was a big fan of this band at the time, and still is today, told me that he'll do everything in his power to make me like Vektor, and than he pushed "Play" on his CD player, choosing the song "Tetrastructural Minds". That's the song that made me, not really like Vektor, it made me love Vektor. And this is still one of my favorite tracks in their whole discography. Before you say, "hmm they only have 3 albums, and that word "whole" doesn't make much sense", I used it for a good reason! Even though they only have 3 LP's, every song there, and I mean EVERY song, is a story for itself cause of their sheer complexity and craftsmanship.

About them:

Alone in an arid, desolate terrain - known to Earth Humans as Arizona, part of the United States Federation - a hominid-type creature named David DiSanto felt a growing shift in his consciousness. He was seeking something, something he could not find... a break from the mediocrity of the stagnant heavy metal landscape. This need began to consume him - searching through endless record bins and compilations, desperately seeking the type of sounds that resonated from within his cranial cavity. All was in vain. The repetition began to eat at his mind.

Faced with the mundane, he chose to reject the ways of feeble earth minds, and realized his mission - to cease his search, and create a new voice within heavy metal. VEKTOR was born.

It was Earth Year 2002, of the Common Era.

The early years were bleak. David was alone. But, this did not deter him. He began writing songs and composed demos. He enlisted the help of a drummer, Willy Redshaw, to provide percussion on these early efforts. The first demo, "Nucleus", was self-released in 2003.

Soon, a new handful of brave earth beings joined him in the pursuit of his mission. They brought their unique skills and individual views. As time wore on, most these brave men were moved to other missions.

During this period of change, two more demos were released: "Demolition" in 2006, and "Hunger for Violence" in 2007.

Through the dust, however, three individuals shone through as true cosmonauts crucial to the next phase of the mission. These men were Erik Nelson, Blake Anderson, and Frank Chin.

Together, they recorded Vektor's first full-length album, "Black Future", which was released in 2009 on Heavy Artillery Records.

Ever forging ahead, Vektor's second full-lenght album, "Outer Isolation", was released in 2011 on Heavy Artillery Records. Following the collapse of Heavy Artillery (the Lizard Master Race has not been ruled out as suspects in this incident...) Earache Records swiftly added Vektor to their list of mercenaries. "Outer Isolation" was then re-released in 2013.

Once the decimation of the western coast of the United States was complete, VEKTOR decided to shift their HQ to a more densely populated area. After all, what better way to spread the disease? This decision found the band in their new home of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They are now in striking distance of metropolitan areas such as New York City and Washington DC, as well as more strategic access to the unconquered fronts of Western Europe...

As of this writing, in the eighth month of Earth Year 2015 CE, VEKTOR is verging on the horizon of another release of meteoric proportions. Their third full-length album, "Terminal Redux", is slated for release later this year.

My favorite record of those 3 is this one, "Terminal Redux". Its just a masterpiece, and I never heard something that good in my entire life. Its a concept album. That is all I'm going to say, cause I'll spoil something, so just listen to it, and enjoy its overwhelmingly beautiful, atmospheric and in the same time terrifying sci-fi journey!

VEKTOR has shared the stage with countless acts within, and across, the metal world. They have gone on several full US headlining tours and enjoyed several segmented North American tours with acts such as Municipal Waste, Napalm Death, EYEHATEGOD, and Exhumed. They shared a Main Stage at HellFest in France (an experience shared with veteran acts such as VOIVOD, Testament, KISS, Twisted Sister, Down, and many others), and, on the other side of the world, VEKTOR played two nights of Japanese Assault Fest in Tokyo alongside the legendary Girlschool.

Source: https://www.facebook.com/pg/VektorOfficial/about/?ref=page_internal

Sometimes I hear people say things like, "thrash metal was only good in the 80s", "modern thrash metal is dead", "there are no new good thrash metal bands", and I just send them Vektor. The new wave of thrash metal was kinda meh, I didn't care much for Havok, Warbringer, Evile and bands like that, and I was losing hope for modern thrash to be honest, and then I heard Vektor. I will say it here and now, Vektor is the best thing that happened to thrash, and one of the best things that happened in metal altogether. So give them a proper listen cause I think they are worth it.

Unfortunately, and I must mention this, 3 members of Vektor left the band, and David DiSanto is the only member left. The most important thing is that Dave write almost everything, if not everything in Vektor. And I'm sure that we'll hear more from the band in the future!

Links:
https://www.facebook.com/VektorOfficial/
https://vektor.bandcamp.com/
https://twitter.com/VektorMetal
https://www.instagram.com/vektormetal/
https://www.amazon.com/Vektor/e/B00681PA50
https://itunes.apple.com/artist/vektor/id210818728

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Vektor / Earache Records