Cantique Lépreux: Paysages Polaires (2018)

That's a lot of French in that band name and title.  It comes as no surprise then that Cantique Lépreux hail from Québec.  Well, maybe a little.  Looking at the album cover, one would think that if this band were truly metal at all, that they would be atmospheric black metal focused on nature or something of that sort.  One would be wrong.

This is a surprisingly aggressive form of black metal, though not without its more melodic passages.  The music is very cold, owing a great deal to Canadian black metal bands like Gris and Tenebrae, along with some Immortal and Mayhem thrown in.  Featuring icy tremolo riffing and chilling shrieked vocals, you can almost see your breath while listening to this album. 

There is an overwhelming sense of isolation and foreboding doom hanging over this entire album.  The English translation of the title is "polar landscapes" and the title could not be more apt.  This album puts into music the sense of terror at being lost in a frozen wasteland.  It is cold and hostile and yet can be beautiful and atmospheric at some times. 

This is an intriguing album that stays with the listener long after it is over.  The band successfully captures a cold and lonely atmosphere throughout the entire album.  It is incredibly effective.  I am definitely looking forward to more.

Reevaluating War and Pain by Voivod

Tastes change over time.  That is not a controversial statement.  For instance, I once considered Coal Chamber one of my favorite bands.  Now, I cannot even listen to them.  Which brings me to a less stark change.  My tastes in Voivod's music.

I have been a big fan of Voivod for some time now, even though I got into them very late.  They were always on the periphery of my musical tastes.  I liked Negatron since it was the first album I picked up by the band in the mid 1990's, but I never got much into their earlier material other than songs like "Killing Technology" and "Astronomy Domine" appearing on a couple of compilations I owned.  Much later, I finally picked up Nothingface and grew to love the album.  Then, I went through a period of time where I started to check out everything Voivod ever did.  The first five albums are legendary (and rival any other band's five album run) and quickly became my absolute favorites.  Of the five, Dimension Hatross became my preferred album because it combined the raw thrash metal of Voivod's early material and saw the band headed in the progressive direction they perfected on Nothingface.  I still like Negatron, but nowhere near as much.  But this is not about Negatron's place in Voivod's history.  It is about War and Pain.

Of the first five Voivod albums, I previously considered War and Pain the band's weakest.  That is not terribly surprising as it was the band's debut album and was incredibly raw and almost sloppy.  It contained few, if any, hints of what the band would later accomplish upon incorporating prog rock elements.  Quite frankly, listening to War and Pain back to back with Nothingface, it is difficult to tell that it is even the same band. 

Something has changed recently.  I have no idea what, but upon repeated listens to the band's discography, it has been War and Pain that I have been going back to time and time again.  What I once heard as sloppy has become endearing and just a sign of a very young and raw band doing the best they could with what they knew at the time.  Several of these songs have become favorites of mine, including "Blower", "Warriors of Ice" and "Iron Gang".  There is a lot of punk influence here that adds to the raw, unrefined sound of the band and makes it that much more intriguing. 

Honestly, picking out a favorite Voivod album is very difficult.  The band has changed so much over the decades they have been around that almost every album is truly unique in some way that sets it apart from any other Voivod album.  That is what is so interesting about this band in the first place.  They were never content to just put out album after album of the same stuff.  And so even though War and Pain has risen in my eyes, who knows if it will stay in such a lofty place?  

Saccage: Récidive (2017)

Quebec has a very rich history of producing amazing metal bands.  There are bands like Gorguts, Kataklysm and Cryptopsy, and of course Voivod is quite possibly the most famous metal band hailing from Quebec.  In fact, there are very few metal bands from the Canadian province that I can honestly say I dislike (though Despised Icon does come to mind).  And so, when I see a metal band from Quebec, my interest is piqued.  Such was the case with Saccage.

Saccage is not as weird as most of the other Quebec bands listed.  Their style is a decidedly old-school mix of thrash metal, black metal and crust.  Think a mix of Venom, early Sodom and Discharge and that is a reasonable approximation of the Saccage's sound.  The songs are all fast-paced with rampaging riffs and the full-throttle roar of vocalist Phat Labrosse.  Despite the ever-present speed and intensity, Saccage have managed to add in a lot of dynamics to the recording.  It never grows stale and retains interest throughout.

The only thing at all unusual about Saccage is that all of the lyrics and song titles are in French.  That is not shocking given the band's home, but it is a little unusual.  Having never learned French myself, I have not the slightest idea of what is being said.

Saccage blends elements of multiple extreme metal and punk styles seemlessly.  This is a filthy and raw release from a band who has thus far made that their calling card.  It is a lot of fun for those interested in the style. 

Black Pestilence: Urban Hell Rhythmics (2018)

A trend that I have noticed of late is bands re-combining black metal with punk influences.  I say re-combining because it is clear from some of the earliest black metal bands that punk has been a big influence on the genre.  One of the biggest examples of this was Devil Master, who I covered a few weeks ago.  It was partly based on my enjoyment of that particular album that I decided to check this out.  And the other reason was the terrific cover art.

I would argue that Black Pestilence is more of a hardcore/punk band who happens to incorporate black metal elements moreso than the other way around.  At least for most of the songs.  Songs like "D.I.Y. 666" and "Hymns for the Black Mass" have a kind of up-tempo punk bounciness, particularly in the bass lines.  Most of the songs follow that general pattern with the only real black metal elements being the raspy vocals and the occasional tremolo riff.  But the energy is absolutely infectious and the songs are often fun to listen and bang the head to.  The songs also fly by and a frantic pace and the album is over quickly.  Every once in awhile, some other element comes in.  "Vertex" kicks off with an almost industrial crunch and there are the occasional noise influences that come in at times as well.

This is definitely an interesting album.  There's some great songs on here and it is a lot of fun to listen to.  The disparate influences come together and the sound works out quite well here.  The best part is that it is short enough that it never overstays its welcome.  Good workout music.

Tomb Mold: Manor of Infinite Forms (2018)

Tomb Mold was basically last year's version of Ossuarium: an old school-sounding death metal band that made huge waves in the underground metal scene.  Plus, they are on the same label: 20 Buck Spin.  The only real differences are that Tomb Mold was on their sophomore album in 2018, not their debut, and Tomb Mold is from Canada.

Just judging by the grotesque artwork, one can kind of guess what type music this band plays.  Yep, K-pop.

No.  This is a dirty and grimy death metal band with kind of an odd emphasis.  Apparently the band are just a bunch of big gamer nerds.  When looking at the band's Metal Archives page, lyrical themes are listed as "Bloodborne, Dark Souls".  That's right, the ultra hard gaming series.  Now, I do not really have anything against such a niche lyrical theme, but it does seem a little strange to base your death metal band on video games.  To each their own I suppose.  I have never played the Dark Souls series, but I do own Bloodborne and I can tell that game is fucking hard.  I have yet to beat the second mini-boss.  It is just not the type of game I can really play all that well.  I don't know.  I am not familiar enough with it to be able to tell what songs might be about Bloodborne and which are not, or even if that is still the band's focus. 

But enough of the lyrical theme.  The band's sound is reminiscent of the sludgiest moments in Scandinavian and Finnish death metal, while occasionally touching on doomier moments.  Sort of like Entombed playing Convulse.  The band are all accomplished musicians and the lead guitar melodies are particularly great.  The production is fairly clean, giving clarity to each of the instruments and making the album a very easy listen, despite the sludgy nature of the music.  The vocals are delivered in a sepulchral groaning bellow.  This is generally an album that is best heard all the way through instead of picking and choosing songs.  There is not a ton of variety, but it just flows well as one continuous album rather than a collection of parts.

I like this one quite a bit.  It is a little cleaner than yesterday's Ossuarium, but there is nothing really wrong with that.  I don't know that this is the next savior for death metal or anything, but it is a fun listen.  That is all we are really looking for from death metal. 

Acid Cross/Sardu: Metalpunx from Beyond (2017)

I need to get caught up here.  I am going to try to finish a bunch of reviews for 2017 releases in the coming weeks before dropping my Top (Whatever) Albums by the end of January.  I like to wait until well after the first of the year to cover all of the new albums I might hear in the year.

This is pretty much the quintessential Hells Headbangers release, which is why it is so weird that it is not from that particular label, not that there is anything wrong with that.  In fact, I only bring it up because I am such a fan of that label's output, so it makes sense that I would like this release.  This is a split album and both bands feature a very heavy punk influence to go along with their own twisted brands of black/thrash/speed metal, hence the name of the split.   Both bands are also from Canada, and I have made it clear that there is some surprisingly great metal coming from the Great White North.  Yet another reason to look into this split.

Acid Cross is the first band on the split.  Their sound is an unholy blend of Motorhead, Venom, and Bathory.  It is beer-and-whiskey-soaked rollicking metal with a punk sneer.  The vocals are snarled and raspy, sounding as if the singer just downed a pint of acid before taking the mic.  "The Glowing Ones" is the standout track here with some damn infectious, neck-breaking guitar riffs.  I could have done without the extended movie sample at the end of the last track on the side, which just saps a lot of the energy the band built up previously.  This might have been better earlier on in Acid Cross's material.

Up next is Sardu, and with a song name like "Metal Punk Exploding Master", you can tell that this group is not exactly super serious.  Sardu has an interesting back story as members of the band also created a cult zombie film called "Walking Among the Dead".  The vocals are a little more black metal-styled than Acid Cross, but the riffs are even more rooted in Motorhead and punk rock.  Their side is a little more even, without any truly weak moments, but they also do not quite reach the heights of the Acid Cross side.

What I usually like to do with splits is pick my favorite side.  Both of these bands capture the drunken mayhem spirit of Motorhead and mix it with some sleazy blackened thrash metal.  Both bands put on an energetic performance.  But, even though I will be interested in following both bands, I think I slightly prefer Acid Cross, mostly on the strength of "The Glowing Ones".

Epi-Demic: Malformed Conscience (2017)

Ah, here we go.  It is good to get away from the power metal stuff for a little while.  Epi-Demic is a Canadian thrash metal/crossover band releasing their second full-length album.  Canada has a reputation for some amazing metal bands, particularly thrash metal.  Slaughter, Sacrifice, Razor, and Voivod have all emerged from the Great White North, so I was pretty excited about this one.

Epi-Demic's sound is definitely more on the crossover side of things with a lot of punk energy and shouted vocals, very much like early Corrosion of Conformity, among others.  Guitarist Adam H.'s riffs are aggressive backed by pounding drums and throbbing bass.  The songs are all fairly short, with only a couple reaching three-and-a-half minutes and the entire album flies by in the blink of an eye.  The production is raw, emphasizing the ugliness of the sound.  This is absolutely not a melodic metal album.

Malformed Conscience is a non-compromising, angry slab of metal that is unrelenting in its assault on the listener.  There are no melodic interludes, no breaks in the action to catch breath.  It is pure, unadulterated violence from beginning to end.  Even the short instrumental is a fast-paced riff-fest.  I was definitely impressed with the release.

Terrifier: Metal or Death (2013)

And we finally come to the end of the VladPromotion stuff that has been sent to me over the last year.  It was a huge number of thrash metal, and the occasional traditional metal release, from a variety of countries.

This is Canada's Terrifier.  I have heard a little bit from this band through the stuff that has been sent to me.  They used to be called Skull Hammer which I remarked that I would have stayed with as it is a little bit more of an unusual name than Terrifier.  But to each their own I guess.

This is a short three-song EP that sounds even shorter due to the fact that it is so fast.  In fact it's too short.  The music is surprisingly good so that it made me want to hear more.  Unfortunately that just is not possible.

The bass is definitely an important instrument here.  We have come a long way since Metallica turned Jason Newsted's bass way down in the mix on ...And Justice for All.  The bass is playing a lot of the riffs alongside the rhythm guitar and is so high in the mix that it gives the sound a thundering, rumbling feel.

This is definitely a fun, fast-paced thrash EP that is just too short.  Looking forward to more, Terrifier.

Iron Kingdom: Gates of Eternity (2013)

I covered an Iron Kingdom album earlier in the year when I was throwing together a bunch of albums into one post.  That album was the band's 2011 debut and I noted that the musicianship was impressive and the band was clearly influenced by Iron Maiden, but I was having problems enjoying it much because of the vocalist's high-pitched voice that was grating on the ears.  This album was released just last year and I guess we will see if they reined in the vocalist or not.

With the first song it is very clear that Iron Maiden is still the principle influence.  It starts off with a galloping riff and a melodic guitar lead.  The vocalist comes in and it is still obvious that he is attempting his best Bruce Dickinson, but he just does not have quite the range.  It sounds a lot closer to Cirith Ungol's Tim Baker than Dickinson, which would not be bad, but he is clearly trying very hard to be Dickinson.

Besides the more obvious aspects that show the Maiden influence, there is also the bassist.  Maiden's Steve Harris is one of the more dynamic bassists in all of metal, alongside Geezer Butler and others.  So it is only natural that a bass player who wants to get noticed would emulate that style.

Most of the songs on this are quite long.  There are a couple of seque tracks that are shorter, but otherwise every single song on here is longer than five minutes in length.  Which would be okay if that band was consistently interesting.  Unfortunately that is not always the case.  The band tends to slow things down at times and drag for long periods of time.  At moments like that, the album seems interminable.  I get that the idea is to combine their Maiden influence with early doom metal bands like Trouble, Cirith Ungol, and the like, but it just does not really translate well on the recording.

The musicianship on this release is still very impressive.  Unfortunately musicianship is not everything if the band in question can not write interesting music.  There are some good ideas here but they just do not really work out.  The vocalist is a little more bearable this time around though, so maybe there is still time for Iron Kingdom.

Eternal Judgment: Fatal Virus (2013)

I have been doing a lot of these short, international thrash metal EPs lately.  It is good to see the thrash metal scene alive and well, and not just the bands aping the style of the Bay Area in the mid to late 1980's.  Fatal Embrace is a Canadian band that owes its existence to Sacrifice, Razor, and the highly underrated Canadian thrash metal scene.

Eternal Judgment is not a technical band.  Most of their riffs are fairly straightforward and simple, but heavy and razor-sharp.  The goal is just to rock and have fun.  The songs are centered around the verses and choruses.  There are not many long, drawn-out musical sections.  The band just rips through the songs without a whole lot of filler.

This is a fairly short EP, with just five songs.  The songs are typically on the shorter side and well-crafted, they are more moderately-paced, nothing too fast or too slow.  What is impressive is how mature these songs sound.  For a band that has only been around for a few years, these songs sound like they are performed by seasoned veterans.  The production is also crisp and clean.  This really does sound like a very professional job.

I was impressed by this EP, as I usually am by Canadian thrash metal.  Eternal Judgment is another band to keep an eye on in the future.

Besegra: Infortunium (2013)

First off, let's talk about the album cover.  What the hell is going on here?  We have the band members rendered as some kind of armored medieval battalion taking on what looks like goblins or demons or something.  It's pretty ridiculous.

Besegra is a Canadian thrash/melodic death metal band releasing their first recorded material on this six-song EP.  I will give the band credit for their energy on this release.  The band typically plays fast-paced thrash metal with a lot of enthusiasm and winding riffs.  Leads and solos twist and turn throughout the EP.  The vocals are consistently delivered in a rougher style.  They do not really have much in the way of dynamics throughout the EP.

Besegra does slow things down once in awhile.  It is there that they play a softer melody, usually by the lead guitar before leading back into the heavier, faster sections.  However these slow sections come across as largely unnecessary.  Perhaps if the band was a little bit better at making the segue not feel as jarring, it would work a little better.

Besegra are very talented musicians, but they have a little bit of trouble making cohesive musical choices.  They are a young band so the chance is there that the band will improve over time.  

VladPromotion Quick Reviews Pt. 2

Last year I was sent a bunch of promos from one individual that I just did not get around to.  Seriously, there were a lot.  So I am now tackling them.  No time to do individual reviews, just a quick and dirty look will have to do.

ERADICATOR: MADNESS IS MY NAME (2012)

Eradicator is a fairly young, German thrash metal band that plays a style that bears more of a sonic similarity to the earlier, more melodic style of Destruction when speed metal was still a major part of their sound.  In other words, this is not the type of proto-black/death metal that Sodom and Kreator, um, created when they first started recording.  It is more of Motorhead on steroids, mixed with Testament and Megadeth.  The riffs drive the music, which is what good thrash metal does, and make no mistake, this is definitely good thrash metal.  It is decidedly old-school in sound, but manages to sound fresh at the same time.

H.O.S.:  THE BEGINNING (2011)

Alright another acronym!  Is it Hogs of Steel?  Hell on Skis?  Horatio Octavio Sanchez?  Nope, apparently it is Harvester of Sorrow, a Metallica reference for those of you who don't know.  The title of the album is helpful because this is the Italian band's debut album.  And despite the Metallica reference in the name of the band, they do not really show a ton of Metallica influence in the music, apart from being a thrash metal band.  The vocals resemble Mille Petrozza of Kreator, particularly after taking over full-time vocal duties, and the riffs sound closer to other Bay Area bands such as Heathen and Forbidden.  Italy is not really known for thrash metal, other than Bulldozer and Necrodeath, so it is not much of a surprise that a band from that country would take influences from both the Bay Area and Germany.  The combination works well for H.o.S.

IRON KINGDOM: CURSE OF THE VOODOO QUEEN

Taking a break from the thrash metal of the last couple of reviews is Iron Kingdom's debut album.  Iron Kingdom is much more of a traditional metal band with roots in the music of the NWOBHM and the American power metal scene.  I kind of like the music to this one.  It's strong traditional-sounding metal, but I absolutely cannot get past the vocalist.  His voice is high-pitched and ridiculously annoying.  As the album goes on, it gets a little better, but that might just be getting used to it.  It's unfortunate that something like that would detract from an album that otherwise is interesting from a musical standpoint, but that's the way it goes.  They do pull an Iron Maiden with a historical epic at the end of the album, this one about Montezuma.  So points for that I guess.

KAOSMOS: KAOSMOS (2012)

Huh.  Apparently Italy is developing a thrash metal scene.  This is the second band just in this group of bands from this promoter.  This is just a five song EP, but a couple of the tracks are more than seven minutes in length so it is a worthwhile length.  This one is much more similar to the Bay Area thrash metal scene with an emphasis on melody over brutality.  It also utilizes a bit more experimentation and progressive structures, with some similarities to Anacrusis, Heathen, and others from when thrash was expanding their sound.  The buildup to the second track "Walking in the Rain" is incredible and once the vocals kick in, it is even more impressive.  The vocals soar over the riffs like air-raid sirens and are incredibly powerful for this genre.  In the third track they are even joined by some death growls, creating an unusual dichotomy.  Kaosmos is definitely impressive.

KUAZAR: WRATH OF GOD (2009)

And now we check in with Paraguay.  And not shockingly, Kuazar exists on the more brutal end of the spectrum.  Not surprising when South America's most well-known thrash metal bands are Sepultura and Sarcofago.  Kuazar takes their sound from the early blackened/speed/thrash of Sodom and Kreator with a little of their South American brethren thrown in for good measure.  Speed and intensity are the name of the game with Kuazar.  It is not particularly brutal for this type of thrash, relying instead on the precision of the riffs and the manic vocal style.  Very impressive as well.

FMA Reviews: Mortillery: Origin of Extinction

Originally reviewed here.

A lot of ink has been spilled discussing the topic of women in heavy metal. I am not going to waste a bunch of time rehashing that mostly tired subject. Suffice to say that metal musicians are mostly male. The rare female member garners a lot of attention solely based on her gender, fair or not. What I will discuss briefly is the fact that even for metal, women are underrepresented in thrash. One very notable exception is Sabine Classen from the underrated German group Holy Moses. Classen is who I would classify the Queen of Thrash. Unfortunately she has not really opened the floodgates to many young bands with female lead singers and thrash remains mostly a man's game.

Mortillery is a very young band from Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. As one can probably guess by the opening paragraph, their singer Cara McCutchen is a female. Their bassist Miranda Gladeau is also female. So Mortillery has two female band members. Certainly rare for a thrash metal band.

I have spent a lot of time listening to groups coming out of Canada recently. It seems that there is a major resurgence in 1980's styled heavy and thrash metal coming out of the Great White North. Mortillery is definitely no exception to this. Their style remains staunchly rooted in early Canadian metal masters Sacrifice, Exciter, Razor, and others. They even reference Voivod with "F.O.A.D.", an acronym the sci-fi thrashers coined in "Fuck Off and Die". Mortillery does not really bring anything new to the table to this style, but it is still good-time, beer-drinking thrash metal.

What Mortillery may lack in originality they make up for in musicianship and energy. The riffwork is razor-sharp and uptempo. The vocals lack the ferociousness of the aforementioned Classen yet she definitely has a snarl all her own. The songs are fast-paced, neck-breaking tracks that grab attention and hold onto it.

This is Mortillery's second full-length album. It captured my attention. I will be looking for them in the future. Perhaps in time McCutchen and Gladeau will be ready to take over the throne as Queens of Thrash.

FMA Reviews: Striker: Armed to the Teeth

Originally reviewed here.

I took one look at that cover art and knew that I absolutely had to check this one out. It is an animated skeleton of a carnivorous dinosaur, can not tell which one, possibly a tyrannosaurus. But the skeleton is equipped with two machine guns on its arms and a mini gun on its back. It is seriously awesome.

So the album art definitely grabs attention, but the music really keeps it. An album is disappointing if the music does not live up to the artwork on the cover. Luckily Striker is not a disappointment. This is Canadian speed metal, very much in the vein of Exciter and other underground bands from the Great White North. The music is certainly energetic and fast-paced and it is almost impossible not to find your self keeping time with it.

I will say that my first listen to Striker did not lead to me being terribly impressive. The vocals kind of turned me off on the first attempt at the album, but on repeated listens, this was less and less of a problem. The vocals are very similar to those in other power/speed metal bands like Hibria and Lost Horizon. So if you enjoy those bands, you will likely not have any problems with Striker's vocalist.

The music really resembles the kind of album that would have come out in the early 1980's when metal was still finding its own voice away from the glam and arena rock sound. The result is music that definitely gets blood pumping while remaining heavy enough that it would not have been heard on the LA strip in the mid 1980's. There are a lot of bands playing this style of metal these days, so groups need to be really impressive to stand out from the litany of groups that sound the same. Luckily for Striker, their keen sense of songwriting and penchant for writing fist-pumping anthems like "It Could be Worse" and "Feed the Fire" is just what they need to stand out.

Voivod: Target Earth

This is quite possibly my most anticipated album of 2013.  If not, it is pretty damn close.  I have become a huge Voivod fan in the last year or so.  The band at one point had called it quits entirely.  Denis "Piggy" D'Amour had died of cancer and, even though he had recorded a lot of riffs prior to his death, those riffs had since dried up.  The last two albums were made up almost entirely of stuff that he had written prior to his death and it looked like that was the end.

It did not work out that way though.  Blacky came back on bass, replacing former Metallica bassist Jason Newsted, and they brought in a new guitarist, Chewy, formerly of Canadian tech-death underdogs Martyr.  The band was rejuvenated and recorded an entirely new album.  Well I was excited so I pre-ordered it complete with a t-shirt.

This album is a little bit of a grower.  The first time I heard it, I was somewhat impressed with the twisting, futuristic riff work, but it did not really sink in.  After several more listens, I can honestly say I love this album.  It is easily the best album Voivod has released since Nothingface.  And that is saying something because I love a lot of the albums the band has released since then.

Voivod has proven that they still have it on this release.  The band really does sound rejuvenated.  Chewy's riff work bears a striking resemblance to Piggy's without sounding like he has copied his predecessor.  Blacky back on bass sounds terrific, and Snake's snarling vocals sound as good as ever.

Voivod has released an early frontrunner for Album of the Year.  It is great to have them back.

Iron Dogs: Cold Bitch

I would be lying if I said that the cover art for this release did not capture my attention.  So I am not going to say that.  It is pretty damn cheesy, yes, but then there is a naked woman on the cover, holding a sword, covered in blood, and flanked by a couple of wolves.  How much more metal can you get?

There have been a lot of bands from Canada recently that play 1980's style true metal.  And what could you expect from a country that gave us Slaughter, Sacrifice, Anvil, Razor, and Exciter, among others?  Canada has a rich metal history.  And it would appear that Iron Dogs is very much aware of that and paying tribute to it, while also pushing forward.

This is heavy and speed metal that definitely and defiantly calls to mind the above-named bands.  It is not just the music that sounds like a 1980's band.  The production is done in such a way as to accurately capture the sound of those bands.  The vocals sound like a cross between early 1980's metal and Misfits-style punk.  It is another aspect of the sound of Iron Dogs that sounds like an homage to their countrymen.  This is a very short, but very fun record, clocking in at just over 30 minutes.

Of course Iron Dogs is doing something that other bands have done before.  Not only older bands whose sounds Iron Dogs obviously build upon, but newer bands as well.  Cauldron still stands at the front of the pack of Canadian retro metal bands.  But Iron Dogs is definitely making waves.

Cataloguing My Metal Collection Pt. 80

ARTIST:  Voivod
ORIGIN:  Jonquiere, Quebec (Canada)
TITLE:  Negatron
LABEL:  Mausoleum Records
YEAR:  1995
GENRE:  Progressive/Thrash Metal
FAVORITE SONG:  "Nanoman"
NOTES:  I had heard a few songs by Voivod up until this point.  This was my first album by the band though and I always liked this one.  It was not the easiest album to get into as there was not a lot of catchiness, but once it took hold, I loved it.  There are a number of different versions of this album with some additional songs.  I unfortunately only have ten tracks on mine.

Initial Impressions: Weapon: Embers and Revelations

Weapon has been getting a lot of hype for this album and a little bit of negative publicity for trademarking the name "Weapon" forcing other bands called Weapon to change their names.  Bad publicity aside, I decided to take a flyer on the band due to the hype for the album.  Plus, they are from Canada and Canada is awesome.

Taking influence from a variety of deep underground black and death metal bands and twisting those influences into a darker, filthier sound, Weapon has definitely crafted their own unique sound on this release.  Weapon blurs the line between black and death metal so convincingly that it is hard to discern whether the band is a blackened death metal band or a black metal band with death metal leanings.  The line is ever-shifting throughout this album.  All that is unimportant however in light of how good this release actually is.

This album features an incredibly dark atmosphere.  That mixed with the impressive riffwork and pulsing drumming combine to create one hell of a sound, pun not intended but definitely a happy accident.  It is a very occultish sound, the kind of music you would expect to be played at a Satanic mass, if you attend such things.  I don't.

This is definitely an impressive release.  I remember the band having some hype surrounding their previous album but for some reason did not act.  I am glad I decided to check them out this time around.  

Initial Impressions: Voivod: Infini

Wrapping things up for my recent Voivod pickups is the band's latest album, which was released in 2009.  This was rumored to be the final Voivod album.  It was the second release after the death of longtime guitarist and founding member Denis "Piggy" D'Amour.  The album, like its predecessor, uses original recordings that Piggy recorded prior to his death from cancer.  It is something of an innovative idea and allowed Voivod to live on for a couple of albums.

It was recently announced that Voivod has a new album coming early in 2013 with a new guitarist.  This is the last recording Piggy will likely appear on but the band has found a way to keep going.

Well enough of that, how is the album?

It is certainly a catchy album.  Many of the songs stick after listening to it.  Like the prior album, it feels very stripped down, but this makes sense given the cut-and-paste nature of the recording.  It is impressive that the band was able to make this work.  The songs are all simple and straightforward without any of the progressive noodling that Voivod has used in the past.  Again, given the nature of the recording none of this is at all surprising.

Like the rest of Voivod's recent material, this is a grower.  I did not care for it much the first time I heard it, but it has grown on me.  Perhaps their self-titled will as well with time.

Initial Impressions: Voivod: Voivod

Continuing on with my recent Voivod kick, comes this album.  This is Voivod's tenth full-length album and their first one with former Metallica bassist Jason Newsted.

This is a very stripped-down album.  Most of the spacey riffs and sci-fi weirdness that typically accompany Voivod albums has been taken away.  What is left is still obviously Voivod, and I think that most people familiar enough with the band would be able to identify it as such.  But it is missing a lot of what made the band interesting in the first place.

This was a highly anticipated release at the time.  It was the first album with Snake back in vocals and there was a sense of excitement with Newsted coming aboard.  And there are definitely some good moments on this release.  All of the songs have a hard-driving feel to them and many of the riffs are very impressive.  Piggy has always been a terrific riff-writer and that ability shines through on this release.  The songs are definitely catchy.

The problems are as mentioned earlier, that there is a dearth of what made Voivod truly special on this release.  The riffs still have the typical Voivod feel but the band feels like a shell of its former self.  It feels more like a band trying to be Voivod than Voivod itself.

This is by no means a bad album, but it does not hold a candle to Voivod's first five albums.