(Want to know where Vektor’s unique sound comes from?  Want to know which sci-fi works figure importantly in Vektor’s creative process?  Want to know about a major geographic relocation for this band? Then read BadWolf’s interview of the band’s main man David DiSanto.)

BW: Let’s start easy: For anyone who has not heard it yet, describe “Outer Isolation” in your own words, for us.

V: “Outer Isolation” is a sci-fi, progressive, technical, thrash odyssey through realms of thought and space. It’s a high speed, aggressive journey that goes into the uncharted depths of the beyond. It’s a personal story of thoughts and philosophies that I experienced during the writing process. It’s not really a concept album, but there are a lot of similar ideas that coincide like delving into philosophies of the mind and self-exploration. The music is based around technical thrash metal, but with an emphasis on taking the genre into new territories. The production sounds new and fresh without being over-produced, which we think is important. We’re all really happy with how it turned out. It has a great feel of being extremely fast and aggressive, while maintaining precision and clarity. It’s a little difficult to describe in words because it’s pretty different from most other albums.

BW: Writing Vektor music can’t be easy—can you describe the writing process?

V:  Well, it’s pretty time consuming. Sometimes songs come together in just a couple weeks while others may take several months. There’s not a formula or anything that I follow when the songs are constructed. Up until now, I’ve been the one who writes all the songs. They’re all just creations from some abstract realm of thought that my brain exists in, haha. All of the songs are very riff-oriented, and that’s how they start. I just play guitar for hours or days until I think up a cool riff and the song takes off from there. I think about what the riffs sound like, usually something strange or space related, and try to build a sonic atmosphere to whatever visions are conjured up in my head when I play them. It’s basically a lot of one on one time with my guitar and my thoughts. After I come up with a general song structure, I show it to the other dudes in the band and they all incorporate their ideas and playing styles to form the Vektor sound. I usually write the lyrics after the music, but it all depends on what type of inspiration is striking at the moment. Continue reading »