September 7th, 2026 - Activate the Homemade Spaceship!

 

Hello and happy Labor Day evil-doers, thrashers, craft beer freaks, and amateur astronauts!  Your heavy metal drinking buddy, the Meista here today pairing "Activate", the 2-track single by badass thrashers Vektor and a crisp and delicious Homemade Spaceship NZ Pilsner from Lumberbeard Brewing!

Album Info:

• Artist: Vektor
• Title: "Activate" 2-track single
• Recorded: 2021 at Villain Records
• Release date: April 2nd, 2021 (4th single CD released by Vektor)
• Record company: District 19
• Production: Byron Filson and Vektor
• Album cover art: ?
• Personnel: Stephen Coon (bass), David DiSanto (guitars and vocals), Erik Nelson (guitars), and Mike Ohlson (drums)
• Musical style: Technical thrash metal, progressive metal with elements of black metal and death metal
• Sound: Combining elements of old school thrash metal with technical death metal, progressive metal, and a touch of black metal and ambient, Vektor's sound is both unique and brutal!  Without being pretentious, "Activate / Dead By Dawn" is very complex, experimental, violent, and completely enthralling!   The guitar work is fast, furious, and sometimes chaotic!  The drumming is machine gun fire aggression!  And the bass work is in league with the guitar work... a blistering fast pummeling!
• Major themes: Isolation, darkness, death, sci-fi, horror, etc.
• Tracks: 

1. "Activate"
2. "Dead By Dawn"

Brew Info:

• Brewery: Lumberbeard Brewing (Spokane, Washington)
• Website: https://lumberbeardbrewing.com/
• Brew: Homemade Spaceship NZ Pilsner
• Style: New Zealand-style Pilsner
• Serving: 16 ounce can
• ABV: 4.7%
• Ingredients: Linc Malt Spelt and Francin Pilsner malts, dry hopped with Motueka and Nectaron with Nelson Bliss hop kief
• Pour: The Homemade Spaceship pours a clear, bright golden-yellow hue with a 2-finger, frothy, bright white head that dissipates to a half-finger ring with good retention and sudsy lacing.
• Nose: The nose is grainy, grassy, toasty, and slightly citrusy and hoppy.  There are aromas of crackery biscuit, freshly cut hay, orange zest, lemongrass, lemon zest, lime, mango, kiwi, a splash of honey, and a healthy dose of grassy and noble hops.
• Taste: The taste of the Homemade Spaceship follows the nose with grassy, citrusy, biscuity, and grainy flavors.  There are notes of lightly toasted white bread, crackery biscuit, stoneground crackers, lemon zest, lime, orange peel, kiwi, mango, guava, and a hint of raw honey.
• Mouthfeel: Light to medium-bodied and well-carbonated, the mouthfeel of the Postcards is very crisp and smooth with a very dry, slightly bitter, yet clean finish.

Overall pairing: The Lumberbeard Homemade Spaceship ZN Pilsner is a crushable, crisp, and hop-forward pilsner... perfect for the power metal onslaught that is Vektor's "Activate" 2-track single!  Those bright and slightly citrusy notes go great with wonderful dual guitar work of Nelson and DiSanto, while the crackery, malty flavors are great for lyrical content and the wonderfully rich and aggressive vocal attack of DiSanto, and the monster rhythm section of Coon and Ohlson!

And make sure to check out my interview from a few years back with Vektor guitarist Erik Nelson here: https://youtu.be/Kz_Y5t3kWo4

Hails!!