03.04.'03 - Voivod Releases New Album (as appeared at BullyMag.com)

Well it's an interesting story nonetheless: a groundbreaking thrash metal band from Montreal comes of age with the inventors of the style - Metallica, Slayer, and Anthrax. In 1987, they start developing an extremely innovative sound, combining thrash with jazz and psychedelic space themes. Suddenly there's plenty of talk about this band breaking into the big time. There's a major label deal and two superb albums are produced - Nothingface and Angel Rat. Then things go down hill. While Nothingface is recognized as a true step forward, Angel Rat is ignored by fans and media, ultimately dropping completely off the radar. The band stumbles, loses its way creatively, loses a lead singer and bass player. Things are not well. Meanwhile, a guy who plays with the biggest metal band on the planet decides to skip out, tired of the business-side of the band's personality and looking for more creative outlets. Suddenly things start to come together again.

And here we stand in 2003, with Voivod returning with probably their strongest album in quite a few years and in no part due to their new bass player - namely Jason Newsted, formerly of Metallica. Also reunited are three of the band's original members - drummer Michel Langevin, guitarist Piggy, and original singer Snake. From first listen it's obvious these guys have found the fire, especially on "Gasmask Revival" and "Facing Up." The big question on everyone's minds of course is which Voivod are we going to hear? Is it the old-school Voivod that was right in line with Metallica's Kill Em All, such as they were on War and Pain? Or is it the more progressive Voivod that was breaking new ground on Angel Rat and Nothingface? Well the answer is both. With some help from Newsted, the band packs a punch again, especially during "We Carry On," "Strange and Ironic" and "Blame Us". At the same time, the band is still giving in to their more progressive tendencies as they do on "Real Again?" and "Rebel Robot."

This straddling of both sides of Voivod's personalities is also evident in the album's overall idea. Originally it was supposed to be a concept album called The Multiverse, with each song dealing with a different universe in the cosmos that is controlled by a giant spider. The cover of this album still features a spider-like creature left over from this original concept. Some of the musical ideas are also still apparent on "Divine Sun," "The Multiverse," and "Invisible Planet." But deciding that maybe the best way to re-introduce the band was not a concept album, they opted for eponymous album title and punchier songs such as "Facing Up." However, stepping back, what you realize is that these guys have made a very solid, old school, late 80s, heavy metal album. It doesn't take as many chances as the band's previous efforts, but it doesn't resort to cheap heavy metal cliches. It is straight up heavy, while still possessing that undeniable Voivod sound.

Even though the members have been friends for some twenty years now, and have written songs before, this still seems like only a glimpse. It's really good, but you can sense that once they hit their stride, two or three albums from now, things will get really goddamn interesting. All the same, check out Voivod and be reintroduced to why these guys were so important in the first place.