Vektor – Terminal Redux

Vektor is simultaneously the best and worst thing that has happened to thrash metal in the past 25 years. Since the dying breaths of numerous great acts in 1991, this subgenre of metal has struggled like no other. Of course, there were numerous great bands over the next 15 years or so (Dekapitator and Hypnosia come to mind), but it wasn’t until the late 00s when it seemed like thrash was starting to come alive. And almost as quickly as interest in thrash was renewed, it died off. By no means do I blame Vektor for this, but the sad reality is that they are so good that their existence has turned a lot of people off of other thrash metal artists. We know that there is no other band quite like them (despite the numerous groups who have tried to emulate them for the past couple of years), but this isn’t an excuse to ignore every other thrash band. This effect has only been amplified over the past 5 years, as fans grew impatient for the band’s third record, “Terminal Redux”.

The band certainly delivered in terms of the quantity of material. Eclipsing the 73-minute mark, “Terminal Redux” is probably everything you expected and more. Throughout the record, these juggernauts of thrash retain their head-twisting brand of riffing, complete with incredibly technical passages, strange melodies, and dissonant chords. Unwilling to chain themselves solely to the thrash namesake, they offer up plenty of blastbeats in an effort to move towards black metal at times. Perhaps even more outside the box is the band’s inclusion of choirs on the appropriately named “Charging the Void” and “Recharging the Void” (the songs opening and closing the record). Though a bit jarring at first, they add some welcomed variety to the band’s extreme sound. The latter song is a bit overlong, but it picks up a lot at the end, while the former track, “Charging the Void” features one of the wickedest heavy sections to date in a Vektor song, as there is a strange, brooding guitar buildup that is quickly complimented by David DiSanto’s tormented voice.

Tormented is the key word to describe his style of singing: if you’ve heard the band before, you know that his shrieks, screams, and wails cannot be healthy for the vocal chords, and that is more apparent than ever on “Terminal Redux”. Taken in the context of the album, he sounds pretty good here, as he’s still able to pull off all of those demented sounds, but a quick comparison to songs from “Black Future” and “Outer Isolation” will reveal that he’s unable to sustain the ferocity he once had.

Perhaps the bigger surprise from DiSanto is his willingness to explore the softer side of his vocals. This is evident on the band’s most ambitious track to date: “Collapse”. It’s not new for thrash bands to incorporate ballads, but generally, once bands get as heavy as Vektor (particularly vocally), it is rare for them to explore this territory. And while DiSanto is by no means a technically skilled singer when it comes to clean vocals, he fits the sci-fi atmosphere of the band. This sound is most effective when he takes a cue from Glen Benton and decides to harmonize both of his vocal styles at the same time. “Collapse” builds and builds thanks to the surprisingly fitting combination of mediocre clean vocals and disgusting screeching. It sounds unappealing, but it is incredibly mesmerizing. Ultimately, "Collapse" is the best song on the album, largely because it shows a willingness to move even further outside of the box.

The three songs that have been mentioned so far are definitely the most experimental on the record, but they also display plenty of classic Vektorisms. It is the remaining songs, however, that are more consistent in this approach. And this is really the band’s biggest flaw. Music is incredibly effective when there is contrast, and much of this record has none. Yes, every single riff crushes the entire careers of certain bands, but when there are 300 of these riffs on a single album (I didn’t count, but it’s quite likely they topped “Time Does Not Heal”), the standouts are few and far between because they need to be even better. A great example is “Cygnus Terminal”. This track sounds like exactly what you’d expect from Vektor, but it doesn’t really have too many moments that you can recall when it’s over. It struggles to sustain its 8+ minute runtime.

When the band really rolls, it is because they do something that sounds just a bit more inspired than their normal sound. “Ultimate Artificer”, for example, has a wicked ringing set of chords near the chorus that is instantly memorable. By packing all of their ideas into 5 minutes, Vektor created a track worthy of tons of replay. You aren’t left waiting for the one or two really cool parts like on “Cygnus Terminal”.

And to be fair to the band, they are able to pull off some of the longer songs that are in their traditional style. “LCD (Liquid Crystal Disease)” is undoubtedly one of the band’s most impressive works. The guitar work is flashy and acrobatic, as the band injects wild licks into the middle of riffs. It doesn’t hurt that the song also opens with some stellar lead playing. To top things off, Vektor delivers an eternally heavy riff after the 3 minute mark, which provides excellent contrast to the mostly lead-guitar focused nature of the song.

Though the remaining tracks on this album aren’t quite as potent, both “Pteropticon” and “Psychotropia” provide their share of highlights. “Pillars of Sand” is the only song aside from “Cygnus Terminal” that doesn’t quite meet expectations, largely because it doesn’t stand out amongst the madness that occurs on the rest of the album. “Mountains Above the Sun” is a very cool interlude, with its only flaw being that it is too short (and that’s the only time I’ll ever say that about anything on a Vektor record). The ending of this song offers up excellent bluesy riffing that would be welcomed even in a full-length Vektor song, and definitely had room to expand upon during this track. 

When all is said and done, “Terminal Redux” is another stellar Vektor record. It isn’t anywhere near the best thrash album of the last couple of decades, but it is certainly among the most inspired. An immense amount of respect is due to a band that takes a subgenre that is somewhat limited in sound and manages to expand it in new directions. While there certainly are some valid criticisms of “Terminal Redux”, the only real problems are its length and intensity. The consistent willingness to go 100% (except “Collapse”) makes enjoyable thrash songs feel commonplace and boring. This fact is compounded by the 73-minute runtime, and cutting even just a couple tracks would make this a much more manageable record. Nevertheless, this album was more than worth the 5 year wait, and it’s easy to see why Vektor is the most unique band in all of thrash!

Be sure to check out and like Vektor on Facebook!

Highlights

"Charging The Void"

"LCD (Liquid Crystal Disease)"

"Ultimate Artificer"

"Collapse"

Final Rating

4.6/5 or 92%. 

Written by Scott

White Wizzard - The Devil's Cut

Throughout the recent uprising of young, new bands playing traditional heavy metal, there still has not been a record as great as White Wizzard’s first full-length, “Over The Top”. That album perfectly represented everything that made heavy metal great. It had brilliantly catchy guitar and vocal melodies, simplistic, yet enjoy riffs, and wicked imagery. White Wizzard’s next record, “Flying Tigers” was a bit of a different beast in that the first half of the album was similar to the debut, but the second side of the record aimed for a more progressive, mature approach to songwriting. On their newest album, “The Devil’s Cut”, White Wizzard has effectively gone back to their original sound, with a couple of influences thrown from the stranger side of “Flying Tigers”.

The one-two punch of “Forging The Steel” and “Strike The Iron” that kick off this record is easily the most energetic sounding combo of any album this year. “Forging The Steel” opens with the band paying tribute to Iron Maiden, with heavy galloping, a strong bass guitar presence, and melodic leads. Even more impressive is “Strike The Iron”. This track epitomizes what the role of guitar solos should be in heavy metal. There is a never-ending supply of shredding on this song. Just when you think there can’t possibly be another solo, guitarists Will Wallner and Jake Dreyer show up again to let you know they can play faster than you. Jammed between these wicked shredders are the powerful vocals of Joseph Michael. I was personally a huge fan of White Wizzard’s old singer, Wyatt Anderson, but Joseph Michael has done a more than respectable job in bringing a new voice to the band. He can do all of the wicked screams that you want to hear, and he can sing appropriately in any other situation the band finds themselves in. "Strike The Iron" also features a couple of unique guitar melodies that would not have been out of place on "Flying Tigers", and help to differentiate the band a bit from their followers.

Aside from the first two tracks, there are some great moments on “The Devil’s Cut”. “Torpedo of Truth” is a return to the simple, upbeat and catchy choruses that dominated the first album.  “Kings of the Highway” and “Storm Chaser” both display a more laid-back sensibility. Those songs are the kind of tunes that you can put on anywhere and everybody should be able to enjoy, regardless of their personal music tastes. The closing track, “The Sun Also Rises” is beyond epic, not unlike “Iron Goddess of Vengeance” from the debut record. Much like at the end of an Iron Maiden album from the 80’s, when this song nears its end, you really feel like you’ve gone through a wicked journey with the band. A couple of the tracks on “The Devil’s Cut” don’t have much staying power (“Lightning In My Hands” and “Steal Your Mind” are my least favourites), but it doesn’t mean they don’t rock when they are playing. It is really more of a testament to the strength of the other seven songs that these two tracks aren’t as memorable as the rest. 

“The Devil’s Cut” is a great return to form for White Wizzard. While I don’t think “Flying Tigers” was bad, it did get a bit off track by the end. By contrast, this new record is high quality throughout, and there’s nothing on this album that is bad or boring. This is one of those albums that if you can’t enjoy, you probably don’t like heavy metal very much.  

Be sure to check out and like White Wizzard on Facebook!

Highlights

"Strike The Iron"

"Torpedo of Truth"

"Storm Chaser"

Final Rating

4.4/5 or 88%. 

Written by Scott 

Diamond Plate - Pulse

If you aren’t familiar with Diamond Plate yet, it’s worth knowing a bit of history on this thrash band out of Chicago. In the last 5 years, I cannot recall a band that opinions changed faster on. In 2009, with the release of the “Relativity” EP, Diamond Plate became easily the most hyped band in the thrash scene. It’s easy to see why: the members were all extremely young, but thrashed just as hard as any band out there. Needless to say, expectations were quite high for the debut record, “Generation Why?”. Unfortunately, most fans (myself included), were let down by how much worse the vocals became, by “At The Mountains of Madness” being slowed down considerably, and by some other strange choices. The negativity on that record was certainly overblown, but it was not what many people were expecting. While I don’t like to play the open-minded card often, if you can approach “Pulse” with no memory of the band’s history, you’ll find it quite enjoyable.

The album kicks off with “Walking Backwards”, which is the thrashiest and fastest song on the album. It will immediately become clear that new singer Matt Ares has a wicked voice. On this track, he tends to stay in familiar thrash territory, though he isn't as Bay-Area sounding as most thrash vocalists. Later on in the record, he would display that he can actually sing in a cleaner voice quite well. Matt Drake from Evile tends to display the same ability to switch between both styles well, and he is probably one of the more accurate comparisons to Ares’ voice. “Still Dreaming” and “Rainmaker” are two of the better examples of this ability, but his versatility is evident on nearly every song. Aside from “Walking Backwards”, most of the songs stay in the mid-paced territory. Though “Face to Face” opens with a ripping thrash riff, it quickly returns to the more common plodding tempo. Although the rhythm guitar playing may differ from what you expect, the lead playing is as solid as ever. This is best displayed in the instrumental, “Persistence of Memory”, which is one of my favourite tracks, as well as on "Bottom of the Glass". Where “Pulse” really shines most is in the unique rhythms used in the riffs. Don’t interpret this as Diamond Plate going djent; they’re still playing thrash, but they’re putting much more emphasis on leaving short rests in some of the guitar patterns. A prime example of this is the verse riff in “Price You Pay”, which is a short burst of energy, unlike any other typical thrash riff. Relative to their contemporaries, Diamond Plate has actually managed to create something much more unique. While I love Exodus, Slayer, and Kreator, there was more to the thrash scene in the 80’s than just those bands, and Diamond Plate really display homage to a variety of other thrash bands (Cyclone Temple and Death Angel come to mind for me). There are still clear homages to the aforementioned bands (“Dance With Reality” opens with a classic Exodus chugging riff), but overall, this record isn't another "Bonded By Blood" clone. 

There isn’t too much to be disappointed about with “Pulse”. Sure, the minute and a half intro to “Still Dreaming” is completely unnecessary, but it really doesn’t affect the record too much. Ultimately, if you can come into this album with a proper perspective, you will definitely enjoy it. It already stands out as the most unique thrash record from 2013, and hopefully is a style that the band can build on in the future.

Be sure to check out and like Diamond Plate on Facebook!

Highlights

"Walking Backwards"

"Dance With Reality"

"Bottom of the Glass"

Final Rating

4.1/5 or 82%. 

Written by Scott