VOIVOD — War And Pain (review)

VOIVOD — War And Pain album cover Album · 1984 · Thrash Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
3.5/5 ·
voila_la_scorie
1984 was the year that speed/thrash metal became the new black, and in Canada, the label Banzai was imprinted on the spines of many of the cassettes filling my metal collection. Among the many bands such as Exodus, Slayer, Kreator, Celtic Frost, Metallica, Venom, Destruction, and so on, Voivod was a band whose style stood out for me as one of the more remarkable. Years later, I gave away most of my cassettes, but War and Pain soon came back to my collection in the form of a CD. I could not forget some of the tracks that had impressed me as a young teen and to this day (now 2012) I still love those tracks.

What made Voivod stand out for me was their use of tempo changes within their songs and the heavy use of distorted bass. In "Black City" there is a cool bass break and the bass figures prominently and is clearly audible in most of the songs. "Warriors of Ice" is a ripping speed metal tune with a beat like a juggernaut charging down a cracking, crumbling highway. After the solo, just when it seems the battering ram chorus is about to pound away again, there is this instrumental break of bass, heavy guitar and drums that are the audio equivalent of being beaten up by a mafia thug at a foggy wharf late at night. "Live for Violence" has a rhythm break that turns a galloping song into a full cantor - complete with that Voivod pounding rhythm section. And "Nuclear War" with its spacy psychedelic delay guitar and a beat and riff that work together to crack your skull 'til your tongue is lolling uselessly and your eyes are swollen and blind will make you blissfully stupid.

In addition to this music that works like a marauding metal works hammer in a nuclear blast, vocalist Snake seems to growl, scream and roar out the lyrics as if he is about to vomit up a muffler. There are times when he almost seems to suck in a roar as much as push it out before volleying a strained growl in the form of a word. He uses his abilities very effectively to suit the mood of the music. For a 13-year-old, this was very interesting and cool. For a 41-year-old metal fan, I can perhaps appreciate better from a more analytic perspective the approach this band used on their first album.

What's not to like about it? The production is pretty raw and a bit muddy. And if you don't like aggressive, ominous, thumping music with lots of delayed guitar or the vocal style, then this album will not be to your liking.
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