UMUR "Infini" is the twelfth full-length studio album by Canadian metal act Voivod. The album was released through Relapse Records/Nuclear Blast Records in June 2009. After guitarist Denis "Piggy" D'Amour´s untimely death as a consequence of complications from colon cancer in August 2005, the three remaining members of Voivod opted to continue and finish the album they had started to write at the time using the demo guitar tracks that D'Amour´s had been recording for the album. The result was "Katorz" (2006).

Personally I thought that was the end of D'Amour´s involvement in Voivod, but it seems that D'Amour had a few more riffs and songs in his archives, and the material on "Infini" is build from the demo recordings found on D'Amour´s labtop.

Not surprisingly "Infini" sounds very much like "Katorz", which itself sounded like a more raw and unpolished version of the 2003 self-titled album. Hard rocking and energetic heavy metal which is predominantly vers/chorus stuctured and not particularly adventurous or progressive. D'Amour´s unique guitar riffs and lead vocalist Denis "Snake" Bélanger´s unique punked vocals are still the defining features of the band´s sound, but this is now pretty much the third album in a row with a relatively similar sound and style, and given the circumstances that´s perfectly understandable, but it´s seldom a positive for the listener.

"Infini" features a well sounding production job, which is actually less raw and unpolished than the production on "Katorz". So upon conclusion it´s another decent quality release from Voivod ending what is arguably their least interesting period (from 2003-2009). A 3 star (60%) rating is warranted.

UMUR "Katorz" is the eleventh full-length studio album by Canadian metal act Voivod. The album was released through The End Records/Nuclear Blast Records in July 2006. It´s the successor to the 2003 eponymously titled album. Although guitarist Denis "Piggy" D-Amour died from complications from colon cancer in August 2005 (aged 45), D-Amour had recorded both his guitar parts and Jason "Jasonic" Newsted´s bass parts for the material featured on "Katorz" before his death. He had even left instructions for the remaining members on how he imagened the songs to sound. An incredibly innovative guitarist and songwriter...this is D-Amour´s swansong (although "Infini" (2009) showed that D-Amour had even more material written and hidden in his archives).

So the recording process of "Katorz" was relatively unusual, as the drum and vocal parts were recorded after the guitar and bass parts. I´m not sure how that works for a drummer, but they may have had to adjust the tempos of the original guitar/bass recordings to the drum tracks.

Stylistically the material on "Katorz" sounds like a more raw, unpolished, and attitude filled version of the material found on the preceding album (both albums are if compared to earlier Voivod releases, closest to the style on "Angel Rat" (1991)). So no stylistic surprises (this is still hard rocking heavy metal with a touch of dissonance and Denis "Snake" Bélanger´s unique punked vocals on top), but the sound production has a touch of demo quality to it, which is of course only natural given the circumstances of the recording process. The extra rawness of the sound actually becomes Voivod very well and they don´t sound as domesticated as they did on the last album.

It´s not that "Katorz" is a great revelation in the discography of Voivod and this period of Voivod is arguably one of the least interesting, but when that is said "Katorz" is still a pretty decent quality release and I find myself enjoying it more than I enjoyed the self-titled release from 2003. A 3 star (60%) rating is warranted.

UMUR "Voivod" is the eponymously titled tenth full-length studio album by Canadian metal act Voivod. The album was released through Chophouse Records in March 2003. It´s the successor to "Phobos" from August 1997 and quite few things have happened since the predecessor. Lead vocalist/bassist Eric Forrest was involved in a serious car accident in Germany in 1998 and left Voivod in 2000 after slowly recovering from his injuries. Voivod shortly disbanded in 2001 but in 2002 Michel "Away" Langevin (drums) and Denis "Piggy" D-Amour (guitars) reunited with original vocalist Denis "Snake" Bélanger (who had left in 1994) and brought in former Metallica/Flotsam & Jetsam bassist Jason "Jasonic" Newsted to complete the new lineup. The inclusion of the latter arguably boosted the interest and awareness of Voivod in a time where their profile needed just that. Chophouse Records is Newsted´s own label, so he could also make sure that the album was distributed.

Stylistically the return of Bélanger means a lot, as Voivod instantly sound like Voivod again with him at the microphone. It´s not that the Forrest-led Voivod albums didn´t sound like Voivod, but Bélanger is such a unique vocalist (love him or hate him type vocalist), that his voice and singing style just make Voivod stand out from almost anything else out there. I´d place the material on "Voivod" close to the hard rocking and slighly phychedelic rock/metal of "Angel Rat" (1991), because of the relatively immediate nature of the material and the vers/chorus structured songwriting approach. "Voivod" is generally a bit more energetic and less phychedelic though.

Upon release this album was met with mixed reactions. With the inclusion of Newsted and the return of Bélanger a lot of people thought that Voivod would go back to their roots and release a fast-paced, technical, and thrashy release, and others thought they would continue the progressive/phychedelic direction of "The Outer Limits" (1993), but releasing a vers/chorus structured and hard rocking album like this one probably wasn´t what most people expected...and thus Voivod did it again, and released an "expect the unexpected" type album. Voivod still deliver a bit of dissonance and some sci-fi themed lyrics, but this is the slightly more domesticated and less daring version of them.

The album features an organic, heavy, and well sounding production job. It´s a relatively stripped sound with concentrating on the power of the rhythm section, the guitar riffs, the rumbling bass, and Bélanger´s vocals, which sound like they´ve been recorded without effects (or at least with very few effects). Featuring no less than thirteen tracks and a total time of 65:38 minutes (although some of them are a hidden silence track), the album feels a little long. There´s simply not enough variation between the tracks and as all tracks are very basic vers/chorus compositions there aren´t many surprises or interesting details to hang on to. I´m not gonna use the word boring, but honestly my attention wanders from time to time when I listen to this album.

So coming from a statement like that and afterwards calling "Voivod" a decent quality release from Voivod may sound a little strange to some, but it is the type of release where I can hear the qualities and I´m able to appreciate parts of the album, but the overall package just doesn´t do enough for me to give a high rating. A 3 star (60%) rating is warranted.

UMUR "Phobos" is the ninth full-length studio album by Canadian metal act Voivod. The album was released through Hypnotic Records in in August 1997. It´s the successor to "Negatron" from November 1995 and it´s the second Voivod album featuring the trio lineup of Eric Forrest (lead vocals/bass), Michel "Away" Langevin (drums) and Denis "Piggy" D-Amour (guitars). It´s also the last studio album to feature Forrest, as he was seriously injured in 1998 in a car accident in Germany and subsequently left Voivod in 2000 after a longer recovery period, which saw the band questioning their continued existence. Voivod actually shortly disbanded in 2001, but reunited in 2002 with original lead vocalist Denis "Snake" Bélanger and opted to continue with the band.

Stylistically the material on "Phobos" is a continuation of the heavy, aggressive, and at times almost brutal thrash/groove (with industrial atmospheres) style of "Negatron" and in that respect it´s fair to label the two albums sibling releases. Also because they are the only albums in Voivod´s discography which feature this sound and style. Both "Negatron" and "Phobos" are vastly different in sound to anything else Voivod have released. But that doesn´t mean it´s not unmistakably the sound of Voivod, because "Phobos" (just like "Negatron") still features the dissonant riffs and organic drumming, which are signature elements of Voivod, and of course the sci-fi lyrics and imagery. Forrest is predominantly a raw screaming vocalist, but he does occasionally deliver semi-melodic or less raw vocals (not often but a few times).

So "Phobos" is another heavy, raw, and aggressive release from Voivod featuring a savage and punishing sound production, which further enhances the rawness and heaviness of the material. It´s less surprising than "Negatron" was, and maybe therefore a little less interesting (the novelty of Voivod releases something as raw and heavy as "Negatron" has worn off by now), but on the other hand the material is both well performed, well produced, and well written. Thirteen tracks (including a relatively unnecessary cover of "21st Century Schizoid Man" by King Crimson and three shorter intro/interlude tracks) and a total playing time of 66:22 are a bit much though when the atmosphere and variation of the music aren´t greater than the case is here, and "Phobos" is therefore an album which could have benefitted from a culling. A 3 - 3.5 star (65%) rating is however still warranted.

UMUR "Negatron" is the eighth full-length studio album by Canadian metal act Voivod. The album was released through Hypnotic Records/Mausoleum Records in November 1995. It´s the successor to "The Outer Limits" from August 1993 and there´s been a significant lineup change since the predecessor as lead vocalist Denis "Snake" Bélanger has left. As the bass parts on "The Outer Limits" were recorded by session musician Pierre St-Jean, and Voivod had not found a new permanent bassist, they were now both a lead vocalist and a bassist down. Enter lead vocalist/bassist Eric Forrest who along with remaining members Michel "Away" Langevin (drums) and Denis "Piggy" D-Amour (guitars) complete the trio lineup who recorded "Negatron". Voivod would work in this trio constellation (and also release the 1997 "Phobos" album) until 1998 when Forrest was severely injured in a car accident in Germany. During his recovery period the remaining members of the band felt that they weren´t able to continue and after Forrest left in 2000, Voivod shortly disbanded in 2001.

But´s that´s of course getting way ahead of the story, as the new trio lineup in 1994/1995 was a breath of fresh air and a new start for Voivod, who did taste limited commercial success with their three preceding major label releases, but never really broke through to the mainstream. "Negatron" signals the return to a much more harder edged and aggressive style of music, and it´s probably the most heavy, angry, and punchy release from Voivod up until then. While Forrest on occasion can deliver semi-clean melodic vocals (the chorus on "Nanoman" is the best example of that), he predominantly delivers raw screaming vocals and as the riffs and rhythms are also heavy, brutal, and hard edged, Voivod have never sounded more potent. When "Negatron" was released I remember being a bit baffled by the change of musical style and if you compare the psychedelic tinged progressive metal of "The Outer Limits" with the brutal thrash/groove metal (spiced up with some industrial tinged atmospheres) assault of "Negatron" it almost sounds like it´s two different bands playing.

That´s of course not the case and if you listen a bit more closely it´s still unmistakably Voivod playing. The signature dissonant riffs are in place, and so are the organic drumming, and the sci-fi themed lyrics and image. So it´s mostly the more raw vocals and the increased heaviness of the music, which make "Negatron" a different listening experience to the earlier material by the band. "Negatron" features a raw, heavy, and punishing sounding production, and it´s the perfect sound production for the equally raw and heavy material.

The eleven tracks, 57:24 minutes long album opens with the strong trio of songs: "Insects", "Project X" and "Nanoman". The latter being the melodic highlight of the album and one of the only times Voivod sound slightly like they did on the last couple of albums. But from there the tracks become harder and harder to tell apart and remember. It´s not that the rest of the tracks are of a poor quality or anything like that and listened to individually they are actually quite enjoyable and powerful material, but as a full album listening experience there´s not enough variation between the tracks. When Voivod try something a bit different they aren´t necessarily successful either. The closing track "D.N.A (Don't No Anything)" is for example a track where Voivod go all the way into industrial metal territory and it´s quite a tedious listening experience. It´s not a good way to end an otherwise decent album and I find that I have more fond memories of "Negatron" when I simply stop the album before "D.N.A (Don't No Anything)" and imagine that "Drift" is the last track on the album.

Upon conclusion "Negatron" is another unique release in Voivod´s discography. It´s harsh, heavy, and aggressive (and not nearly as progressive as it´s direct predecessor), which may turn off some of the fans of the last couple of releases, but while the abrasive nature of the sound production, the relentless aggression of the material can be a bit hard on the ears, and the album overall lacks a bit in the variation department, it´s still overall a good quality release from Voivod, showing their most heavy and brutal side. A bit unexpected upon release but with time I´ve learned to appreciate "Negatron" more and it´s overall a nice addition to Voivod´s discography. A 3 - 3.5 star (65%) rating is deserved.