Arizona based sci-fi thrashers Vektor have been busy in the studio recording their new album “Outer Isolation,†the follow-up to their critically acclaimed masterpiece, “Black Future.” In between sessions, Review Fix was able to catch up with singer/lead guitarist David DiSanto for some details on the album, talk about labels and influences, and what’s going on in the band.
Review Fix: How long have you been playing? Are you self taught? What kind of gear do you use?
David DiSanto: I have been playing guitar for about 14 years. I’d probably be better by now if I hadn’t spent so much time playing punk in my teens, haha.
I am self-taught. I learned a few songs by ear when I was first starting, but I quickly started writing my own songs as soon as I had a general idea of what I was doing. I always felt like it was a waste of time to learn other people’s songs. I just wanted to make my own.
My current guitar is a Jackson, Rhodes “V.” I have a Mesa Triple Rectifier that I play through for shows and practice. My gear is pretty standard at this point, although I do incorporate some effects for live performances using my Lexicon effects processor. A lot of people think I use effects on my vocals, but that’s not true. I just have a crazy voice, I guess. Hah
Review Fix: How did you get the attention of Heavy Artillery Records?

DiSanto: We kept shining the logo in the sky outside their office, like the Batman symbol. We first found out about Heavy Artillery through Exmortus. They (Exmortus) got signed before us and we had been playing shows with them for about a year. We said we were interested in getting signed, so Exmortus told the label about us. The label really liked us and we started recording Black Future a few months later. Luckily, we had a couple self-released CDs to show Heavy Artillery.
Review Fix: What can we look forward to with the new album? Any plans for a music video?

DiSanto: I think there are two words that come to mind when I think about the new album: focused aggression. We played this album to our utmost capabilities. The precision in our playing surpasses that in Black Future. It was hard to beat Black Future because it was such an epic album, but I think it will be a perfect follow-up. It is shorter overall and many of the songs are punchier. The first track, “Cosmic Cortex,” is a monster of song. It goes over 10 minutes and is utterly relentless the entire time. “Outer Isolation” is our only other epic song on the album, which goes for about 8 and a half minutes. The other songs range from 3 and a half minutes to 6 and a half. We didn’t change our recipe at all for the song writing though, so anyone who liked Black Future should enjoy this album. There aren’t any plans right now for a music video, but it could be a cool idea. I guess we’ll see how well the album does initially and go from there.
Review Fix: Your vocal style is similar to Chuck Schuldiner from “Death.” How do you do it?

DiSanto: As I said earlier, I don’t use any effects on my voice. For the recordings, I think we only used one phaser effect for a few seconds during the middle of “Dark Nebula.” Other than that, it’s just basic stuff like reverb and delay like all the other singers out there. I don’t really know how I make the sounds I do. I just push really hard from my diaphragm and let it rip through my vocal chords as harshly as possible.
Review Fix: What are your main influences?

DiSanto: I think our main influences are pretty clear in our music. I’m into old thrash and black metal mostly, but I add elements of old progressive rock to the mix from time to time. The main bands that have made Vektor what it is are: Slayer, Destruction, Voivod, Kreator, Absu, Immortal and Emperor.
Review Fix: Will you ever re-release Vektor’s independently released album, “Demolition”?
DiSanto: There have been talks of making that happen some time in the future. We have a few demos and the label brought up the idea of putting together some sort of package with the old stuff on it. We definitely wanted to wait until after our new album “Outer Isolation” is out first though, because we re-recorded 3 old songs on it. We wanted to let people hear a fair representation of the old songs by re-recording them first and then letting them hear our old demos later. The band has gone through some serious line-up changes over the years and the playing was pretty different on the old recordings. Our first recording, “Nucleus,” was just done with me and my old drummer. The newer recordings are how I would’ve liked the songs to sound in the first place, but we will probably release that old stuff for the fans some time shortly.
Review Fix: The band logo is very similar to Voivod’s. Why?
DiSanto: When I made the logo, I wasn’t thinking of blatantly ripping off Voivod’s. It just showed a resemblance after it was finished, I guess. I still think it’s different enough, but there are a lot of people that have commented on it. I was just trying to make a logo that represented our sound: sci-fi thrash metal. It doesn’t help either that we share the same first letter as them, ha-ha. Oh well. Once people hear us, they can see that we’re not just trying to rip off Voivod. That would be sacrilege.
Review Fix: What is the future of Vektor once the album is released?
DiSanto: We plan on doing some U.S. tours. After that we’re really now sure. We would love to tour Europe and Asia, but we just don’t have the money or resources for that right now. We’ll see how the sales do for “Outer Isolation” and take it from there.
Review Fix: What is your favorite Sci-fi/horror movie?
DiSanto: Oh man, there are so many. Bladerunner is pretty high on my list. I love all the ’80s nuclear wasteland movies. Total Recall and the Alien movies are classics. Space Hunter is a really underrated movie. Krull is really awesome, but that’s more like a fantasy movie that takes place on another world.
Review Fix: Name something you do people would not expect.
DiSanto: I look for reptiles and amphibians every chance I get. I’ve always been way into reptiles from when I was a kid. I’m kind of obsessed with it. Our van broke down in the middle of the California desert between Blythe and Indio, and I was just walking around flipping rocks over looking for critters the entire time.
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