Vektor. A band I've heard so much about yet listened to so little. I obviously need to get on that because Vektor is awesome and Outer Isolation kicks major ass.
Let me start by saying that I'm extremely fond of technicality in songwriting. If a band can play complex rhythms, intensely difficult riffs, and incorporate odd songwriting elements like atonality or serialism, there's a high chance I'm going to think they're awesome as long as they back it up with evocative progressions. This is what Vektor attempts to do on Outer Isolation, fit to the mold of thrash, not too different from what Anacrusis and Voivod were doing almost twenty years ago. My listening experience with those two bands is pretty minimal though, so Vektor sounds fresh and interesting.
As I mentioned, Vektor is pretty goddamn technical. There are jazz interludes and bridges like on "Venus Project," fret-melting solos like on nearly every goddamn track, even a few chromatic basslines, all with a ridiculous tempo. There's also a buttload of banshee screeches that make Tom Araya's squeal at the beginning of "Angel Of Death" seem pedestrian in comparison. "Tetrastructural Minds" starts with one which leads into one of the best and most catchy riffs on the album. "Dark Creations, Dead Creators" is an underrated thrash monster of a track and the title track wraps everything up in a spaceship-sized gift box and shoots it straight into orbit with one of the more jazz-influenced solos on the album.
Outer Isolation as a whole is a very cohesive album with a strong unifying theme. The production is almost geared towards a more progressive sound, with a dry, poppy bass tone. This contrasts with the more aggressive and thrashy Black Future, but it is also nice to see the band evolving in some direction rather than playing the same damn thing over and over. This album is definitely a hit with me.
8.75 out of 10
Tracklisting:
| 1. | Cosmic Cortex | ||
| 2. | Echoless Chamber | ||
| 3. | Dying World | ||
| 4. | Tetrastructural Minds | ||
| 5. | Venus Project | ||
| 6. | Dark Creations, Dead Creators | ||
| 7. | Fast Paced Society | ||
| 8. | Outer Isolation |
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