Vektor is an American thrash metal band from Tempe, Arizona. Their music is heavily themed around scientific, philosophical, futuristic and astronomical topics.
History
The band was formed under the name Locrian in December 2002 by the front man/guitarist David DiSanto, but changed their name to Vektor a year later and released their first demo, "Nucleus". Vektor became popular in the Phoenix metal scene, with a musical style drawing influence from progressive metal and technical thrash and speed metal, with high-pitched screaming vocals. In 2006, Vektor released a demo entitled "Demolition", followed by a two track demo "Hunger for Violence". After four years of local and regional performances as the opening act for such national acts as Testament, Hirax, Iced Earth and Municipal Waste, Vektor embarked on a tour, alongside label mates Exmortus, in support of Black Future in December 2009 through January 2010. The band subsequently toured the US in June–August 2010 on their own. Their first full-length album, Black Future, was released on November 17, 2009, on Heavy Artillery Records. The band released its second album, Outer Isolation, on November 22, 2011, on the Heavy Artillery label. In 2012, the band signed with Earache Records after the label acquired Heavy Artillery's roster of artists.
Touring
In the summer of 2012 Vektor went on a small headlining tour, and in November opened on an extended tour with Napalm Death, Municipal Waste and Exhumed. In January 2013, the band played the Earache Records Showcase in California. The band played their first European show at Hellfest in June 2013. They embarked on their first full European headlining tour in November and December 2015 alongside Angelus Apatrida and Distillator which included an appearance at Eindhoven Metal Meeting and culminated in a show at the Camden Underworld in London. In early 2016, the band embarked on an American tour opening for Voivod. After the band's relocation to Philadelphia and several years of touring, their third album, Terminal Redux, a conceptual work with a runtime of over 70 minutes, was released on May 6, 2016.
Line-up changes, hiatus, and reformation
In December 2016, guitarist Erik Nelson, bassist Frank Chin and drummer Blake Anderson announced via the band's Facebook page that they would be leaving the band to pursue different projects for reasons the band chose to keep private. The post stated that there was "no big story or drama," but "people and personalities simply change and drift apart and we've reached our limit." In May 2020, David DiSanto and Erik Nelson announced they have decided to reform Vektor, with Mike Ohlson on drums and Stephen Coon on bass, and that they were working on new material and preparing for multiple tour dates in 2021.
