VoiVod

If any band was deserving of the title "progressive thrash metal", this is IT. VoiVod's music has consistently been interlaced with unique, dischordant, speaker-swelling riffs, courtesy of guitarist Piggy. (The other three guys were named Snake, Blacky and Away...how the hell do you come up with the nickname "Away"??) Oddly, they seem to get no respect from traditional metal fans, at least not the ones in So-Cal. Every CD I've found from them have been priced $5.99 or less, and they were actually BOOED OFF THE STAGE at a concert I went to! (Can't even remember what band they were opening for!) Maybe it's because they're French-Canadian (ooh, what a double whammy...heh.)

"War and Pain"

  1. "Voi Vod" (4:16)
  2. "Warriors of Ice" (5:04)
  3. "Suck Your Bone" (3:30)
  4. "Iron Gang" (4:15)
  5. "War and Pain" (4:55)
  6. "Blower" (2:42)
  7. "Live for Violence" (5:11)
  8. "Black City" (5:08)
  9. "Nuclear War" (7:01)

This album is so raw it defies description. It sounds like it was taped straight out of their garage (hey, for all I know it was!) The guitar chords are so thick they sound like they're chewing straight through the speakers. ABSOLUTELY a classic. (Unbelievably, their first recorded track, "Condemned to the Gallows" from Metal Massacre V, sounds even more incredibly unfettered & noisy.)

"Rrröööaaarrr"

  1. "Korgüll the Exterminator" (4:58)
  2. "Fuck Off and Die" (3:35)
  3. "Slaughter in a Grave" (4:03)
  4. "Ripping Headaches" (3:10)
  5. "Horror" (4:10)
  6. "Thrashing Rage" (4:31)
  7. "Helldriver" (3:44)
  8. "Build Your Weapons" (4:42)
  9. "To the Death!" (5:12)

A mediocre followup...the production sounds less raw and more disorganized. Still pretty furious, though. They definitely had worse to come.

"Killing Technology"

  1. "Killing Technology" (7:33)
  2. "Overreaction" (4:45)
  3. "Tornado" (6:02)
  4. "Too Scared to Scream" (4:14)
  5. "Forgotten in Space" (6:10)
  6. "Ravenous Medicine" (4:23)
  7. "Order of the Blackguards" (4:28)
  8. "This is Not an Exercise" (6:18)
  9. "Cockroaches" (3:40)

This was the first VoiVod album I ever heard...boy, what a mind-blower. The sci-fi themes that were always present in their lyrics finally spread over into their music as well, perfecting their unique, futuristic sound. Listening to this CD is akin to watching a dystopian horror movie or something.

"Dimension Hatröss"

  1. "Experiment" (6:10)
  2. "Tribal Convictions" (4:52)
  3. "Chaosmongers" (4:39)
  4. "Technocratic Manipulators" (4:35)
  5. "Macrosolutions to Megaproblems" (5:33)
  6. "Brain Scan" (5:08)
  7. "Psychic Vacuum" (3:49)
  8. "Cosmic Drama" (4:54)
  9. "Batman" (1:45)

Now THIS is VoiVod perfection. A concept album, based on an alien species meeting earthlings and wondering what the hell to make of them (or the other way round? I forget.) The band members also printed their real names for the first time here...of course, they're all named Jean-Jacques or something peculiar like that. The "Batman" bonus track is merely silly.

"Nothingface"

  1. "The Unknown Knows" (5:42)
  2. "Nothingface" (4:08)
  3. "Astronomy Domine" (5:22)
  4. "Missing Sequences" (5:37)
  5. "X-Ray Mirror" (4:24)
  6. "Inner Combustion" (3:36)
  7. "Pre-Ignition" (5:01)
  8. "Into my Hypercube" (4:54)
  9. "Sub-Effect" (4:22)

Well, this one pretty much copies the Dimension Hatross sound, but not nearly as well. The music is also a lot more smoothed-over and much less throaty and raw. The only positive thing I can say about it is their cover of Pink Floyd's "Astronomy Domine".

"Angel Rat"

  1. "Shortwave Intro" (0:25)
  2. "Panorama" (3:13)
  3. "Clouds in My House" (4:48)
  4. "The Prow" (3:50)
  5. "Best Regards" (3:50)
  6. "Twin Dummy" (3:05)
  7. "Angel Rat" (3:47)
  8. "Golem" (4:46)
  9. "The Outcast" (3:18)
  10. "Nuage Fractal" (3:59)
  11. "Freedoom" (4:42)
  12. "None of the Above" (4:15)

When I bought this one, the record store guy warned me that it really sucked. Not true! This is one of their best albums by far, even though it's a near-total direction change from their original thrash metal. In fact, it sounds more akin to "college rock", kinda like an extra-heavy R.E.M. or U2 (yeah, I know it's shocking for me to compare a band to R.E.M. in a GOOD way, well this is what R.E.M. would sound like if they were any good!) Blacky had officially quit the band at this point but still played on their albums.

"The Outer Limits"

  1. "Fix My Heart" (4:53)
  2. "Moonbeam Rider" (4:10)
  3. "Le Pont Noir" (5:43)
  4. "The Nile Song" (4:00)
  5. "The Lost Machine" (5:53)
  6. "Time Warp" (3:55)
  7. "Jack Luminous" (17:26)
  8. "Wrong-Way Street" (3:50)
  9. "We Are Not Alone" (4:28)

Hmmf. As Nothingface was to Hatross, this album is to the one before it. The nuances that made Angel Rat so awesome wind up kind of annoying here. Not even the 17-minute epic "Jack Luminous" thrilled me enough to rate it any better than average. Yet again, the best song is another Pink Floyd cover, "The Nile Song" this time -- I didn't even know that song was by Pink Floyd until my total Floyd-freak friend mentioned it (and to the band's credit, he thought their version was excellent.)

"Negatron"

  1. "Insect" (5:41)
  2. "Project X" (4:49)
  3. "Nanoman" (5:10)
  4. "Reality?" (4:21)
  5. "Negatron" (7:07)
  6. "Planet Hell" (4:33)
  7. "Meteor" (4:14)
  8. "Cosmic Conspiracy" (6:09)
  9. "Bio-TV" (4:54)
  10. "D.N.A. (Don't No Anything)" (4:36)

Oh dear, they went and did about the worst thing they could possibly do, which was to ditch Snake AND Blacky and invest in one single vocalist/bassist. The idea, I suppose, was to get back to their thrash-metal roots...BIG failure. Sure, it sounds raw and unfettered, but it just ain't VoiVod without Snake's trademark screeching. (Who knows, maybe he was losing his voice, he really did sound whiny on their last couple albums.) But overall, this CD sounds just like any run-of-the-mill thrash band...not even Piggy's guitaring can save it. (It does have a multimedia section, with a video of "Insect" and a couple band interviews, but who cares...)

"Phobos"

  1. "Catalepsy I"--instrumental (1:15)
  2. "Rise" (4:55)
  3. "Mercury" (5:40)
  4. "Phobos" (6:57)
  5. "Bacteria" (8:08)
  6. "Temps Mort"--instrumental (1:47)
  7. "The Tower" (6:07)
  8. "Quantum" (6:37)
  9. "Neutrino" (7:42)
  10. "Forlorn" (6:00)
  11. "Catalepsy II"--instrumental (1:06)
  12. "M-Body" (3:37)
  13. "21st Century Schizoid Man" (6:37)

Well, after the pathetic failure of Negatron I was pretty leery about this CD, so I wasn't expecting much...whoa, what a surprise! The album starts out with a long sci-fi instrumental which would fit right at home on Killing Technology, followed by the real surprise, which is that the new vocalist actually manages to sound like Snake! Granted, his boring throaty growl does sneak through in parts here and there, but the MUSIC is what's finally dominant, so you hardly notice. How amazing, I had nearly written the band off and they come out with one of their best CDs ever. The song "M-Body" was co-written by Jason Newsted (of Metallica and Flotsam & Jetsam fame, of course)--I think he plays on the song as well. Their cover of King Crimson's "21st Century Schizoid Man" is utterly brilliant!

"Voivod"

  1. "Gasmask Revival" (4:16)
  2. "Facing Up" (4:48)
  3. "Blame Us" (5:36)
  4. "Real Again?" (4:52)
  5. "Rebel Robot" (4:48)
  6. "The Multiverse" (5:29)
  7. "I Don't Wanna Wake Up" (5:49)
  8. "Les Cigares Volants" (4:06)
  9. "Divine Sun" (5:05)
  10. "Reactor" (3:55)
  11. "Invisible Planet" (4:37)
  12. "We Carry On" (7:42)

SNAKE'S BACK!!! Man, it's so good to hear a Voi Vod album that actually sounds like what a Voi Vod album's supposed to sound like, it makes one wonder why he bothered leaving in the first place. (I guess cresting 40 makes all those "creative differences" from years ago seem pointless and immature, that seems to be the benchmark for when all these "classic" lineups reform.) Blacky's not back, but they've got an admirable replacement in Jason Newsted, who used to play for, oh, I dunno, some band or another. Hey, I won't say the M-word if you won't!

Something's weird, though. I heard this CD was going to be called The Multiverse, but instead it came out self-titled, in a cheaply designed digipack no less! Seems like the cover artist missed his deadline or something...or maybe Michael Moorcock refused to give them rights to the title? Bah, Moorcock wouldn't know psychedelic sci-fi rock if it bit him on the ass. :) (That's a joke, folks.) In any case, this album's a logical progression from The Outer Limits, perhaps a bit more raw, with all the necessary chromatic riffs and spidery rhythms. Oh, and check this out: the song "Rebel Robot" contains the line, "There's a little matrix in everyone"...you SEE?? I TOLD you it was real!

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