March 31, 2010

Black Future, the sophomore album from Arizona’s Vektor, is another 2009 album that should’ve been a contender for my top ten, but in my defense I can’t listen to everything, particularly since four out of five albums I hear are garbage. So I’m a little late to the gate on this one, but if other webzines are any indication so are most people, so we should all get together and kick ourselves for overlooking one of the best thrash releases in a decade.  I’d hesitate to use that awful review cliché “a (genre) fan’s wet dream” but for the rather awkward occurrence at work during my initial listen last week.

I listen to practically no modern thrash, as in my experience it typically falls into the derivative retro or tepid modern “death thrash” varieties, and I listen to little old thrash unless its early and German or Brazilian, but all my waffling aside I’m pretty confident in recommending this album to anyone, from young and green to old and jaded.

Vektor’s logo screams Voivod, but that’s not the best comparison, except that both share an intense paranoia of technological tyranny reflected in the lyrics.  Semi-obscure Canadian metallers Obliveon seem a better point of reference, that epic, futuristic, face-ripping thrash with the added bonus of a riff salad to rival Time Does Not Heal.  Black Future is seriously the most fun and energetic album I’ve listened to in some time, the kind of album that will make you drive fast enough to get your car impounded.

There’s not a dud on Black Future, which surprisingly doesn’t overstay its long playing time.  There’s a handful of dry moments, mostly toward the end of the album, where Vektor take a much-needed breather from the frenetic pace, but aside from these brief diversions you get riff after riff after riff.  Shrill shrieking vocals, hyperactive solos, and a meaty production complete the package, but if I haven’t said it enough already, the riffs are the real treat here.  The shorter tracks like “Deoxyribonucleic Acid” fall into predictable verse-chorus patterns and don’t offer much variation, but nearly all the tracks are epics that blow through a multitude of fluid riffs in narrative fashion.

Black Future is an album by spirited artists who love playing metal.  Their passion is on full display throughout the seventy minutes here.  Black Future is one hell of a ride, an immensely enjoyable listen that’s truly a must-have for any metalhead’s collection.

Release Date: November 17th, 2009
Label: Heavy Artillery Records

TRACK LISTING

1.  Black Future
2.  Oblivion
3.  Destroying the Cosmos
4.  Forests of Legend
5.  Hunger for Violence
6.  Deoxyribonucleic Acid
7.  Asteroid
8.  Dark Nebula
9.  Accelerating Universe

Total playing time:  01:08:03

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*Comments:

Vektor - Black Future

Reviewer: Matt