The Angry Scotsman
Although a huge fan of their early material, I must admit I have not listened to any Voivod post Nothingface. So maybe it was a bit of a risk picking up their latest, and most likely last, album. Though I was looking forward to it, I must say I was correct in my original anxiety. This is not a very good album.
It is known that guitarist Denis "Piggy" D'Amour died from cancer several years before this release. It is of course a shame when anyone leaves us, especially a unique musician like Piggy. Truly one of the more unique and unknown guitarists out there. This album was largely a tribute to Piggy, and it was made using riffs he previously recorded and had stored on his computer. That is evident.
While you can hear Piggy's unique sound, this is frankly a poor album. It is largely thrashy, though as fans of Voivod know even when it is thrashy it is different. Just like on their classic "Nothingface" this album almost never uses tremolo picking or shredding, but instead often chords and jazz tinged guitaring. While some of that great unique sound is here, a lot of these songs are bland.
Global Warning is a standout track. Pretty thrashy, but different sections and some great guitar work, even a solo in there! If someone wants a prime example of Piggy's work this is the song.
Sadly, the next song "A Room with a V.U." is the opposite. It is boring. Though it starts off pretty cool I have a difficult time keeping my attention through the song. This is the case with a lot of the album. Cool moments, but overall songs are weak and frankly it is difficult to really get into a lot of them.
While the music is bit bland, the vocals are awful! Sometimes Denis has a Lemmy type style going on, and that's actually when I like it best! Besides that, the vocals just sound shot. Strained, grinding, shot. Also sounds a bit uninspired and forced at times. These things happen with age and abuse, but no way around it, the vocals on this album are bad.
It is a shame because "Destroy After Reading" is another of the better songs musically, but the vocals kill it. I can barely listen.
Morpheus, is another of the stand out songs, and maybe the best on the album. Some actual variation, this song reminds me of classic Voivod. That Piggy guitar work that we love with disjointed, ominous sounding riffs and different sections. You get some slow and heavy, some thrash, and some creepy parts, especially the ending. Great song!
I have mentioned Piggy a lot, and their is a reason for this. His guitar really is the highlight of this album. The drumming is average, the bass work, (though pretty damn good at times) overall is average, the vocals are awful, and while the music may be solid many of the songs are poorly constructed. Oh, and there is nothing really progressive about this album. Unique perhaps, but progressive? Not at all. So fans of Voivod's more proggy stuff looking for it here should keep looking.
Maybe this is a bit forgivable because hey, they were working with pre made riffs from a computer. Must be difficult to really make much with that. This album serves its purpose well, a tribute to their late bandmate and awesome guitarist, Denis D'Amour. That I appreciate, but unfortunately this is not a very good album. Even if this is partly due to the restraint they chose to work with to make this tribute, the fact stands that is a poor album. If you listen to it, stomach the bad vocals, and can tolerate the lack of originality and dull song compositions, you WILL hear some unique guitar work, and glimpses of really really good music.
Two Stars
R.I.P. Piggy