Voivod is the band that you always hear about but never actually hear. Since the mid 1980's, the band has developed a cult following with their at times spacey, at times intricate, progressive metal. In the early 90's, the group suffered a few lineup changes including the exit of original vocalist Denis Belanger (a.k.a Snake). Four more albums followed with vocalist/ bassist Eric Forrest when the band reunited with Snake and found a new bassist in Jason Newsted (ex-Metallica). The result is this most anticipated release, simply titled Voivod.

What sounds like a cause for heavy metal exaltation, ends up being the worst hard rock album in years. The album comes out of the gate swinging with the opening track "Gasmask Revival"; sounding like a beefed up "Kickstart my Heart" by Motley Crue, sans the melody and hooks. That song, like the rest of the album is marred by it's insipid lyrics; in this case we are treated to such prose as: "I got hit by a rock on the head and now I'm seeing red". The hard rock/ metal genres may not need the lyrical talents of Bob Dylan but this is just outright silly. And it only get worse from there.

Musically, the album has a few catchy guitar hooks but they are far and few between. Tracks such as "Rebel Robot", "Strange and Ironic" and "Divine Sun" show potential but poor songwriting cannot help them - you need more than one good riff to make a good rock song. Another problem with the disc is that there is no dynamics to any of the songs, they just pummel you with a riff over and over again without any sonic or musical variation. In short it gets boring real fast.

The strongest track on the entire album is of course the first single "We Carry On" but by the time you reach this 13th track (an omen?) you will no doubt be asleep or extremely angry at having spent your hard earned money on this hard rock debacle. An utter disappointment. Guess we have to wait for Metallica's next record this June to get a great hard rock album.

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Voivod

Voivod

Released: March 4, 2003
Origination Year: 2003
Time: 65:39
Tracks: 13
Produced by: Voivod & Brian Joseph Dobbs
Engineered by: Brian Joseph Dobbs
Mastered by: George Marino at Sterling Sound
Style: Studio
Format: CD
Enhancement: N/A
Label: Chophouse Records/ Surf Dog
Website:
www.voivod.com

Gasmask Revival
Facing Up
Blame Us
Real Again?
Rebel Robot
The Multiverse
I Don't Wanna Wake Up
Les Cigares Volants
Divine Sun
Reactor
Invisible Planet
Strange and Ironic
We Carry On