Vektor - Outer Isolation (2011)

Vektor are one of the only modern 'thrash' bands I can listen to without getting irritated. Although clearly influenced by Voivod in their music and imagery, Vektor play their wicked style of aggression right, without aping the past or losing themself in a time they clearly weren't born in. Vocally, it's all very harsh, screeching rasps which give the record an old school feel, coupled with the sniping guitars and dynamic drums which hurtle by at quite a pace. With track titles sucha s 'Cosmic Cortex' and 'Tetrastructual Minds' one should be able to fathom that this is technical thrash, and not your average bay Area chugging, and the band have the ability to dizzy the senses with their jarring complexity, but again I'm reverting back to those grim vocals which really are a nice touch. The title track displays so many emotions, from melodic to hyper black thrash, and there are so many extraterrestrial style layers to this record, once again bringing the weird soundscapes of Voivod to mind. 'Cosmic Cortex' is a ten minute epic beginning as a sweeping intro that melts into a machine gun riff, Vektor also showing the influence of Kreator too which certainly isn't a bad thing, although once again, the vocals must be noted for their nefarious execution. Far from an isolating experience, 'Vektor will hopefully pull modern thrash into the same direction Voivod and the likes did many years ago. 8/10