Terminal Redux by Vektor (2016)

"I must return to Alshain
To release our clutch
Terminal redux"

So, it's finally about time that this album got released! As you noticed from my various posts across the forums, I awaited this album like crazy as it was one of my most anticipated release of this very year. Yeah I know you wanna hear my thought about this piece of work, but first let me introduce to you the album in perspective.

Terminal Redux is the third album of Philadelphia's unique Thrash Metal act Vektor and it's their first album since their latest offering from 2011 called Outer Isolation. It is also their very first concept album. The concept behind Terminal Redux is awesome, but let me get a great explanation of it by none other than David DiSanto, the band's lead singer and second guitarist:

"The story begins with a lone astronaut regaining his memories after being sentenced to an isolation testing program. Near the point of death in his damaged spacecraft, he finds a life-rejuvenating molecule within a stellar nebula that will change the course of his fate and many others. He brings a large haul of his newly discovered prize to the Cygnus regime, a vast galactic empire, in hopes of regaining his status as a high-ranking general. Years of isolation have turned him into a power-hungry tyrant that will stop at nothing to usurp the people who banished him. Through terror tactics and brute force, he incites a coup within Cygnus and gains control. Using the life-rejuvenating molecules from the stellar nebula, he grants the people under his rule extended life. His goal is to achieve perfect, cosmic harmony within his domain and bring balance to the war torn planets: something that no intelligent life-form has ever been able to accomplish."

So this is a neat concept, but how about the album? was it worth all of those 5 years of pure waiting? YES IT IS OMG YES!!111 omg myself can you calm down, we do not need to spoil our thoughts already geez...

My Thoughts
For this review I want to try doing a song by song analysis, mainly because of the fact that it's a concept album so without further ado let's begin this song by song analysis!

1. Charging The Void - (9:11)

One great thing about this song is right off the bat: The song literaly starts off with the same note that ended Outer Isolation! So Dream Theater thought they were the only who could do this, but then bam Vektor does it, and it sounds surprisingly well-done (No offense to D.T., I also like them). Aside from little detail, the actual song starts, and oh boy it gets quickly into typical Vektorish riffy insanity mode from there, this part greets the listener with such aggressive riffs and melodies but that does not set the tone for the rest of the song, just as another part of it shows itself after a nice little melodic and riffy interlude. Here we have a progressivish part that makes the balance of this song, not as thrilling as the first part, but it certainly contributes to this song. Then, unexpectedly some weird arrangemenents introduce a side of Vektor that was never shown before: Here, we get greeted with a very melodic part executed by the musicians that sounds so unusual for them but yet feels essential, then we also have the most weird things that spawned out of this 9 minutes piece, soul singers. YES! YOU HEARD IT SOUL SINGERS! And from there the song gets crazy and unusual-sounding but it does help to make this song finish greatly. This song is awesome, and it begins this album with a blast! I'll rate this one 10/10

"I charge the void
I’ve found the purpose
Immortalize this life
I will return to the surface"

2. Cygnus Terminal - (8:15)

This song is also incredibly well-written, as it mainly revolves around catchy riffs and clever progressive parts. And when I say catchy riffs, I'm not lying. These riffs are very dissonant and they really helps making the flow of this song so unique, so viby. Same thing for those progressive parts, they help immerse you into the world of Vektor as they introduce the Cygnus regime that the main subject from this album left because of an isolation testing program. This follows-up greatly to the blast of that first track and it deserves also a 10/10

"I have returned
With malice that can’t be unlearned
I have arrived
Like the rise of a massive tide

Cygnus Terminal"

3. LCD (Liquid Crystal Disease) - (7:33)

This song is one of the more straightforward thrashy sounding song out of this album. It has all the elements of a great Thrash Metal song: Fast and complex riffs, great musicianship and superb melodies. It gets also pretty intense at parts, like that one part 2 minutes before the end of the track: The part where it all gets much more intense with much faster riffs and that proves it's potential just like that. Vektor is still going strong with this third track and this very one gets aswell a 10/10

"Have them screened (x3)
Feed their disease
Have them screened (x3)
Liquid crystal disease"

4. Mountains Above The Sun (Instrumental) - (1:22)

This one minute and an half instrumental seems to have potential. It starts with a calm intro, then it gets much more into details, but at the end it cuts abruptly at what could have been a great full-length song, what a shame... I don't feel like rating this one as it would be unfair to rate such a very incomplete piece.

5. Ultimate Artificer - (5:04)

This was the first song that was introduced in it's studio version back in November of 2015. Back then, I thought the song was good nothing more, nothing less, but after today's listen I felt that I maybe underestimated this song a little bit too much! This song possesses interesting things, like tight riffs, good melodies and also great musicianship that is shown through relentless sections of music. But, I feel like this song still has much to climb in order to get among the pure elite of the album. I still think this song gets a 10/10 because I ain't seeing anything wrong with that track.

"Ultimate artificer
You live to spread fear
Usurp the world in silence
Quelling defiance"

6. Pteropticon - (6:00)

This is the part of the story where the whole revolution takes it's places in order to crush the regime. The lyrics talks about how much dead the leaders of this regime are, as the battle rages one. It's also as aggressive in the music, the riffage gets even faster here and it does not slow itself that much. This song gets by the front and puts you like you are inside this battle, to crush the regime of Cygnus. This is why it's a solid track and it gets pretty easily a 10/10

"I have gained the trust from all the peoples within the Sanctioned Spheres
Epsilon and Cygnus: you have much to fear
Neither of you could maintain the natural order; you’ve become unbound
Like a weed that has to be plucked, I am breaking ground

Blackened wings outstretched over the sky
Harbingers of death invading your mind
Sentinels deployed to Earth Epsilon
Flee from the Reaper Squadron: Pteropticon"

7. Psychotropia - (7:39)

This one track is one of my personal favorites from this release. It starts off with a rythmic section with a not too slow or fast main riff that sounds good, but this section is a set-up for another part of the song which absolutely kills: Right off the bat the tempo intesifies and meanwhile there's an interesting little riffs that opens up wide into a surreal section of pure thrashiness. Here, we get covered up by intense technical riffing that sound eargasmic to the point of joy meanwhile the drum works also make this section just plain epic. Then, for the last moments of the song it comes progressively back to this little rythmic pattern that begun the song. Superb great and thrashy song that does not hold back. Here Psychotrpia, get this free 10/10.

"Raze the land to construct a new beacon
That will shine out from every surface
We are Cygnus V.2
We dictate balance and purpose

Forward we go
Psychotropia
In a world that’s shaped by our minds
Aspiration designs"

8. Pillars of Sands - (5:19)

This song keeps the thrashy streak going, but it's much more aggressively played here: Yes, there are riffs, but they sound much more dissonant in this song and yes, there is fast drumming, but here with get much more blast beats. And it helps the fact to see that in fact the steamroll was not a great idea after all, as the main caracter question his acts of violence for the first time. The music is chaotic, so is the mind of the caracter. This song is also great as hell and gets itself a 10/10

"Time is a clock on the wall we command
And its hands made from pillars of sand
On our watch we don’t seek what we find
Left bereft by the passage of time"

9. Collapse - (9:22)

Here is the song that marks a change in this record. Story-wise, we see the caracter regreting everything he did as his mind and idea quickly collapses on him. Same thing musically, as the thrashy sound suddenly collapse to reveal a calmer, yet a sad part of this musically-weird band. The first section is defined by this sad sound that litteraly worships Voivod, here with the vocal style really reminiscent of Denis "Snake" Bélanger, the singer of the later. At one point inside of this, it litteraly sounds like they play Progressive Rock! Yeah no joke! This part is even sadder then everything you know that is sad and goes on for about 3 to 4 minutes, then to this point it progresses into much more familiar territories with more of the typical Vektor elements, up until we get to meet the end of this surreal and experimental piece. This one got to me with all of the feels and gets a 10/10.

"A tearful dawn sheds light
On what we have become
We were not meant to live like this
No life, no freedom

Collapse under the weight of time
In this still life of our design
Collapse into a great resolve
Everything falls"

10. Recharging The Void - (13:36)

So, this is it, the final track from this so far great and epic release, will this end on a good note. Well, I'd say yes, because it's got everything from this album in it, from the crazy and intense riffing to the more mellow and experimental part of the album it got it all! It's also one of the most experimental song from Vektor along with Collapse. To delve a little deeper into this one let's analyse the sections: First, it's starts with an agressive section with wild riffs and crazy blastbeats scattered all around the place, then it goes progressively calmer and then we meet a part in the same vein of the beginning of Collapse, but we also get those crazy soul singers back! YES! And then it goes much more experimental with riffs that goes beyond imagination, mixing crazy time-signatures changes along with it. It goes on and on, until we meet the end, where our hero decides to put everything to rest as he see that he made his mistakes and that this place does need him anymore. And there it is, the end of the story, of this majestic album as it ends with the same part that ended the first track Charging The Void and after we get to finish this whole thing with a familiar windy noise from the song Outer Isolation I would presume. The story ends with the self-destruction of the terminal, and a 10/10 (for the song )

"I heed the Cygnus call
A symbol for life and death’s resolve
Our fate implodes upon our crux
The Terminal is set to self-destruct

Relic Alshain
Oh Shahin-i-tarazu
I return my flesh to you"

General thoughts
This album is a pure masterpiece of modern Progressive Thrash Metal music. I never ever gaved a 100% to an album before, but this is it. This album as everything I could minimally asked from them, it possess creative song-writing that never fails and that generates brilliant riffs and melodies. But, there is also great musicianship in this release that makes everything standing together in an harmonic way along with all the experimental elements that are like a warp for this gift that is this album. This album is outstanding and should MUST BE Album Of The Year 2016 for me!

Ratings:

2. Charging The Void (10/10)
3. Cygnus Terminal (10/10)
4. LCD (Liquid Crystal Disease) (10/10)
5. Mountains Above the Sun (Instrumental) (NA/10)
6. Ultimate Artificer (10/10)
7. Pteropticon (10/10)
8. Psychotropia (10/10)
9. Pillars of Sand (10/10)
10. Collapse (10/10)
11. Recharging the Void (10/10)
    

Overall rating: 100% (AKA Perfection)

The whole album was made available for streaming today, here it is:

Enjoy!